Bloody hell, leopards DO actually exist...!

[Thankyou so much to Yohan, for sending on the best leopard picture from our truck, gratefully reproduced here]

Hello again my friends,

After a spate of horribly expensive internet in Durban, and non-existent internet during my sojourn in the Drakensberg, I am now in Pretoria, with cheap-as access, so it's time to try and bring the story a little closer to the present day, so let's pick up where last I left off, in Etosha:

This being a national park, you can guess how we started the next day. Yep, dark and early (5am or so, again...), loading onto White Nile for further chasing off bloody antelope. Or at least, that was how I felt at the time. As predicted by Paul back up when we were in East Africa, I had been getting fairly game-fatigued. Once you've seen all these animals a certain number of times, you do find yourself saying things like "Oh no, not another bloody giraffe", and people making jokes about only wanting to see another hippo if it was fighting a lion at the time. Combine this with my usual aversion to early mornings, and you'll have some idea that I was in not the most happy of moods.

This wasn't helped by the fact that the seat-rotation policy on the truck had now brought me right back to the back again, and when we did stop to see things, our driver Valdy tended to line us up okay for those near the cab, while unintentionally leaving some of the rest of us looking at bushes, which was mildly frustrating. Still, we were seeing a fair bit of game, which kept quite a few of the newer occupants happy. As it was, though, I was fairly tuned out and having a conversation when we stopped to look at another giraffe. So I wasn't the first to react when Dave and Heetan, from opposite ends of the truck, both made comments along the lines of "Are those spots in the bushes there?".

Indeed, it turned out, they were. Finally, after over a month on the road, I could see a leopard, the most elusive of the "Big 5" of Africa! Incidentally, not sure if I mentioned it back in my musings from Kenya and Tanzi, but the Big 5 are named not for their actual size (there are much bigger creatures than the leopard out there) but for their danger to hunters - hence, the Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Lion and Leopard were the 5 most dangerous things for big-game hunters to take on back in the 19th century. Anyways, there was much frantic photography, as everyone tried to get a decent shot through the undergrowth (unsurprisingly, their camouflage is pretty effective...) - the best of ours was Yohan's, which he kindly sent on arond the group afterwards (and I have shamelessly used here). And then, there was astonishment as another leopard loped out of the undergrowth just behind it.

Now, leaving aside London bus-style jokes about waiting forever and two turning up at once, this is incredibly rare - adult leopards are solitary creatures, and only ever pair up just before mating, splitting up again just afterwards. Neither Paul nor Valdy had ever seen a pair of them at once before, and it's not many people who have. Understandably, this completely rejuvenated me and got the enthusiasm back up, so I was a very happy bunny when we got back to camp for lunch. Most animals being sensible enough not to wander around much in the heat of the day in the deserts of Namibia, we were not due to head out again until later in the afternoon and so had a few hours of leisure around the campsite, which any of us put to good use by jumping in the pool. Or at least, those of us with a certain tolerance for chilly water - compared to the hot desert air, the pool was really rather cold, and it was notable that the Brits were rather more ready to plunge in than the Aussies in the group.

Much splashing around in the pool with a ball (and a much-needed ice-cream) later, it was back on the truck for more beastie-spotting. Amidst the hordes of springbok, and quite a few kudu, we managed to get a glimpse of a lion, much to the joy of the crew who had joined up in Livi, as this was their first leonine sighting (and completed their entire Big 5, all within Etosha!). We also went out briefly onto the Etosha pan itself, a huge salt-flat. This gave us a chance to get out of the truck in the middle of a park for once, as there were more than enough sight-lines for safety. We put this unaccustomed freedom to typical use - taking photos of one another, kicking balls around and general horseplay (e.g. Dave deciding to lick the salt-pan, and Amanda deciding to ride on his back while he was doing so...). And in all the excitement, we nearly lost track of time, and so were left at the mercy of Valdy's driving once more as we raced to get back to Halali camp and avoid being locked out! This time we managed to cut it even finer, as we drove through the gate and almost immediately passed the guard heading over to lock it. Phew.

It was then back up to the waterhole for most of us, where we saw elephants, hyenas and jackals again. The highlight, though, was definitely when rhinos came back down again. And this time, the mummy rhinos brought their kids, leading to a situation where we had two adult females and two juvenile rhinos all clustered around the waterhole. Absolutely mesmerising, and really lovely for Helen, whose favourite animal they are, and who had missed the rhino the previous evening. Eventually, though, it all got pretty quiet and it was time for bed again.

And that is where I must leave you now, as I have spent way too long on the net today. Adieu, mes amis!

Pat