We were staying about a 20 minute drive from the Phabeni gate of the Kruger National Park in a resort called Hazyview Cabanas. Game driving through the park is an awesome experience but with two kids both younger then three we wisely decided that we would only spend three of our six days game driving.
This shot was taken on our last day game driving. We had decided to change up our routine by heading into the park as early as we could, spend the morning game viewing and head back home for a brunch before returning for the late afternoon drive. We had a fantastic morning seeing three of the big five before we started heading back home for brunch.
I was cruising along the road to the gate when out of the corner of my eye I saw the birds flying up from the trees and I heard their distress calls. As I looked to see what might be causing the commotion I noticed a tail galloping along beside us. Because the road was slightly elevated I couldn’t see the animal, only it’s tail was visible. At first glimpse it reminded me of a lemurs tail, HOLD THE PHONE! South Africa doesn’t have lemurs! My next thought was wild dogs as they had been sighted early that day. I jumped on the brake and backed up. To everyone’s surprise there in the middle of the day – LEOPARD! In case you don’t know, let me tell you…leopard are the most elusive of the big five. What a blessing this was! He came up onto the side of the road and crossed right in front of our vehicle. One morning — four of the big five. Amazing!