April 16

Leopards are very elusive animals but our guides have some useful tools they can use. The first one is the radio that allows communication among all the guides. We have about 10 different guides in the park at one time so if one guide spots something he will radio all the others as in the video below:

Another tool our guide has is a blue laser light that he can shine on the animal or the area where the animal is located so we can locate what he is talking about. In this next video look at the small blue light moving around.

The next tool that our guide has is his knowledge of the animals and their habitats and behaviors. In this next video our guide has stopped the vehicle because he notices that there is a lone antelope walking along. He knows that antelopes travel in packs and if there is one alone that is an invitation for a lion or leopard to attack. Another signal is the lone animal starts running fast as in this video.

Each vehicle has 6-8 people who are on the watch out for animals. On our vehicle we had Glenn who was especially observant and he saw something off to the left side and yelled for our guide to stop. This is what he saw:

Can you see it in the center? I don’t know how he spotted that going 20 mph but he did so we stopped. It was a leopard. We took several videos and photos.

We drove a little more and saw 3 leopards on a dead tree. All the vehicles came and there was a traffic jam.

Next: A Visit to Namibia