Maximus and Orion

We wheeled along the beaten track, the air freshened by a morning awakened. Feathered friends rejoiced and the breeze gently wafted through the windows, occasionally infused with the natural aroma rising off fresh Elephant dung. Our journey meandered through the African landscape, lorded by rolling Kopjies kissing the sky and delaying the suns arrival.

Our eyes surveyed the open veld, trees and rockery, our hearing sharpened by intent, we were searching for spots. The outing was young when a herd of Zebra following a game trail down the hill caught our attention. A young foal lagged behind her mother, I reached for the binos and scanned the area behind the herd. ‘What is that?’ ‘LEOPARD!’ A bulky male was stalking the lackluster foal. Bewildered by our fortune we looked on in silence, taking in every detail and learning what we could. As the herd moved on the Leopard gained ground on his quarry, when the foal stood still the Leopard froze, flattening himself against the earth. An attack seemed inevitable until instinctively the youngster trotted up to her mother’s side. The Leopard lay still for a second or two and then lifted his head in dejection. With the herd now well out of the danger zone he stood and more carelessly strode down the hill, melted through the terrain and vanished under a Wild Olive tree near a riverine. We sat staring at the base of that tree for long enough to reach the point where pure desperation besieges the mind and your eyes begin seeing ‘spots’ that simply do not exist. A decision was taken to move on and return in the eve. 

We stuck to the plan and had a wonderful day further, basking in our appreciation for the African scenery and it’s inhabitants. As the sun began to sink toward the horizon we were  en route to the mornings spot when a guide in an open safari vehicle waved us down. ‘There is a Leopard up the road.’ Quite likely the most sought after sentence amongst all lovers of the African veld. The Leopard was a well known young male with a distinctive pale coat, a Leopard I will write more about in my next blog. He weaved in and out of the vehicles on the road and disappeared into the shrubbery. The other vehicles left and we decided to comb the area hoping for a glimpse of him, we got lucky and noticed him in the riverine, blissfully wandering towards a certain Wild Olive tree where a beating lay in wait.

Fortunately the young male popped out of the riverine and strolled West away from the danger.

Once again we parked at our mornings venue, opened the proverbial popcorn and hoped for a show. We weren’t ready for what would follow. As the sun broke the horizon my wife spotted a pale shape lying in the open, it was the youngster gazing upon our vehicle intently. He rose to his feet and walked towards us, with my head in my hands I looked on in concern. 

He confidently made his way towards the Wild Olive tree again, completely unaware of what may be waiting for him. Then reality hit, the youngster snarled and leapt out into the open, his ears pressed back against his skull and his head hung low. The beast emerged from behind the tree, I bitterly regret being consumed by the shakes and unable to photograph the sheer size difference between these two cats. 

Another vehicle approached us, I waved him down and what I blurted out was barely comprehensible, but the driver knew something was up! He made a u-turn and followed us. Conflicted by excitement and a sense of dread Katie and I headed in the direction the cats had run, we stopped, switched the vehicle off and listened. The growls and snarls echoed in the distance. We continued up towards the noise when Katie spotted the monster right next to our car moving alongside a dam. I looked ahead and saw the youngster bolt across the dry river bed leading into the body off water. We got out in front of the older male and temporarily slowed him down, not for long enough. He was furious and on a mission to hurt. His heavy set figure passed us, the foam filled saliva dripped from his jaws. Vocalising and sniffing the earth he tracked the youngsters movements and crossed the river bed. We drove ahead hoping to locate the smaller Leopard first when we noticed the vehicle behind us flash his lights, a quick turn around and we headed back. Willem stopped us and said both Leopards had crossed the road behind him no more than ten meters away from each other. My heart sank, was this the end of a Prince? Incidentally Willem is a guide and he briefly put our fears to rest when he mentioned there are normally a few slaps involved and the conflict is unlikely to turn fatal. 

We looped around the vast area both Leopards had disappeared into but we were unable to locate them. It was a somber drive from Pilanesberg National Park back to the concrete Jungle that evening. We hung on tender hooks for days to come until word came out that the young male had been sighted and is in good condition. What a relief!