Patience in the bush is most definitely an art. Nobody wants to sit in the same spot exposed to the 40 Degree heat with no way to stretch the legs for an indetermined length of time in hopes that something may or may not happen. That said it is most certainly something that we must exercise in the bush. A prime example of this practiced art came knocking on our door on Thursday the 29th of February.
We received a report from our good friend who was visiting the Kruger that a leopardess had been spotted in a tree with her kill, on this occasion she was not alone, she had brought her small cub with her to the kill in what we presume was this cubs first venture up a tree to feed on a kill. We decided to take the risk and head up with no expectations of being able to witness this truly rare sighting. As we made our way up the H3 we knew that we could be in for a wait, given the time was already after 9am the odds were most certianly not on our side.
When we arrived we were absolutely overjoyed to see that both leopard and cub were still in the tree with the young Kudu hanging precariously above them. As the heat began to rise we began our waiting game. It would surely be something spectacular to witness an interaction between these two in a tree, something we had not yet seen on a trip.
Luckily for us as mom slept the cub woke up and seemed to be bored of lying around. We were treated to a short display of this cubs skills which included a lot of jumping from branch to branch, snarling at the Hyena that was resting under the tree and half hearted attempts to wake mom from her slumber. Once the cub settled back down on a beautiful horizontal branch and fell asleep we all waited.
This was a great time to catch up with all of our fellow Krugerholics and friends. After a good couple of hours our patience most certainly paid off. We were treated to both mom and cub feeding on the kill in the canopy, a beautiful scene where the cub got a solid bath from mom and finally a spectacular view of the cub suckling on a branch.
While patience is not always easy and sometimes does not pay off, it is most certainly something we recomend when it comes to these sightings. When it pays off, it can deliver once in a lifetime sightings and moments between these animals we love so much.
