It is very rare that you get to see a leopard with her kill and her young one on the very first trip you make to Africa, thanks to Option.
Option is the name of the tour guide who was with us for the last three days of our tour of Botswana and Zimbabwe.
Option was not only knowledgeable about wildlife, he had a sound knowledge about the history and geography of everything. He has this habit of exchanging information with his counterparts and he calls it "bush telegraph"
His grasp on the geological background of the terrain was admirable.
When we camped at Savuti, during the campfire, he explained about the stars and I was stunned at his knowledge of constellations.
We were at the edge of our seat listening to one of the strategy executed by the lions of how they managed to feed on Elephants.
When the waters receded all the animals migrated to other areas whereby there was nothing for the lions to feed on.
They decided to feed on the mighty elephants. As they could not constrict and choke them (their usual strategy) they managed to bleed the elephants to death by cutting open their main artery, a process which took three to four days. There were casualties on the lion’s side too, but the pride managed to feed and sustain themselves.
In Option’s words “ When we think we know everything, Nature manages to rewrite history”
The additional advantage that he had was his great sense of humour and a good grasp of the language. You can hear from him in the video. Those of you who would like to engage him can contact him directly on Whatsapp +267 7241 7407 or mail at optionmooketsi@rocketmail.com
Coming back to our main story, as usual Option kept collecting information from his bush telegram and when we told him that we spotted a jackal he said "forget the Jackal for the time being, I will show you something that you will never forget"
He drove us directly to the spot where the leopard was resting after having her first fill of the Steenbok. It was later that we noticed that she had a cub too. (The leopard spots really help in the blending in.)
The leopard decided to move to a quieter place, so she picked up her kill and moved to the interior with her cub in tow. It was our luck that she walked right in front of our vehicle, so I could capture her movements in the video.
In another instance, we saw a leopard stalking and crouching waiting for the charge. He was waiting to see if he could reduce the distance between the prey and him. The waiting game went on for a long time and we had to leave before some action took place.
