Leopard Hills

Today we got to experience the highlights that make Sabi Sands such a special area. This morning we headed to the far north where a leopard had been spotted. We encountered her and her 3 cubs at the end of a ravine. We were getting ready to pull out to make room for another vehicle to visit when the leopards moved further down the ravine. Our ranger opted to track them so that we would have a position to give the second vehicle once they arrived. Mom settled down on the floor of the ravine about 15 feet in front of us and the cubs put on a dazzling show, playing with each other and their mom. The other vehicle was delayed in reaching us so we sat with the leopards for 20 minutes or more watching their antics up close - what a sighting!!

Back to the lodge for lunch and then this afternoon we got even more cat sightings- spotting a lion pride with a mom, her cubs, and her large 'nephew', a 2-3 year old male that patiently tolerated the tiny cubs playing over and around him. The ranger said this kind of tolerance from a larger male lion was unusual. He just slept lazily as they crawled all over him!