Last night, Africa on Foot guests arrived back at camp after an exciting game drive during which time everyone enjoyed a fantastic sighting of the female leopard known as the Marula Mafasi. This is the second sighting we’ve had of her this week, so we are getting quite used to having her around! No one could have expected to see yet another leopard last night, but as we know, one can never predict these things in the wild…
Guests had just arrived after game drive when all of a sudden the news broke that a leopard had killed a duiker within the Africa on Foot camp grounds! Back on the game viewer and straight to the location of the kill we went. As if this wasn’t exciting enough, a spotted hyena had caught on to the action and stole the fresh kill from the young leopard. She reportedly dragged the duiker kill up into the tree, but must have lost her grip or succumb to intimidation as the hyena threatened her. Guests watched in the glow of the spotlight as the leopard positioned herself, defeated, in a marula tree and the hyena got away with a free meal.
All this activity took place outside the camp owners’ house and after 15 minutes spent watching this beautiful cat, she climbed down and disappeared into the darkness, but not before strolling through Courteney and Cecilia’s garden! There is no escaping the activity of the wild living in a fantastic, unfenced camp like Africa on Foot. So far, this leopard’s markings don’t seem to match those of leopards that have been identified by the guides, but we will certainly keep an eye out for her in the future.
Peter Wells