In moments like these, the air feels more rare, time seems to slow down, and everything crackles with tension. Just a few minutes earlier, a call came over the radio and my guide, Khutso, quickly put our open-backed Jeep in gear. Doing his best imitation of a Formula One driver, he roared over the rough roads, me hanging on as we careened around corners. What’s waiting for us, I asked? “A surprise,” he said, looking over his shoulder for an instant—just long enough for me to see his wry smile.
Tourists take a break from a game drive to enjoy coffee in the wilds of Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, South Africa. (Klaserie Drift Safari Camps)
Arriving, another jeep was already in place, and the guide motioned us to a spot nearby. And then we saw him: a big male leopard. Completely impervious to our presence, he was preoccupied with tracking something. Perhaps some small game, or, more likely, Khutso said, a female. He sniffed and stalked, back and forth, through the grass. Eyes laser-focused on his goal. We sat there, watching his every move, just barely breathing….