Capturing the Moment

Life moment. The tiniest of baby leopard cubs makes an appearance. We found the mom, crossing the Sand river, calling to her cub. We followed, and sure enough, this tiny leopard cub came out of its hiding place to see mom.   We woke up in Kirkman's Camp, a historic luxury safari lodge in the Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve in South Africa. Originally built in the 1920's, it is located high on a bluff, overlooking the Sand River. I ventured out to my veranda, listened to the birds, peered down at the river, and felt the excitement grow as I got dressed for the morning game drive. Who knows what we might see down there. After meeting our guide, Willy, for a morning cappuccino, Greg, Sue, and I loaded up our safari vehicle. There was a special seat on the front of the hood for our tracker, Richard. Like our other safari vehicles, this was the class green, extended Land Cruiser. However, this one not only had no doors, but it also had no roof. We really felt like we were in the elem...

  Sabi Sands Game Reserve in South Africa is renowned for having one of the best safari experiences in the world. It is situated in the southwest corner of Kruger National Park, and share a 50 kilometer unfenced border. The reserve it especially famous for leopard sightings, due to the leopards being habituated to safari vehicles, making more intimate sightings possible. I was hoping that our time here would provide some good leopard sightings, but we also needed to find a predator that we hadn't seen yet, the wild dog.

  Rare encounter with a critically endangered black rhino. A lone baobob tree looks eerily out of place, while the typical red soil and mountain spines of Tsavo round out the scene. Tsavo National Park, located in southeastern Kenya, is a sprawling expanse of wilderness that beckons both nature enthusiasts and wildlife aficionados alike. Split into two sections, Tsavo East and Tsavo West, this national park is one of the largest in Kenya, covering an impressive 22,000 square kilometers. The park is renowned for its diverse landscapes, ranging from open plains and savannahs to dense woodlands and riverine ecosystems. The Athi and Tsavo rivers traverse the park, adding a vital water source that sustains the rich biodiversity within. It is always important to me to try and show as much diversity in landscapes and ecosystems as I can during my safaris. Not only does this give the guests a more complete understanding of the destinations, but it provides opportunities to find different a...

     Located six hours of hair-raising drive southeast of Nairobi, Tsavo East National Park is where we begin our Kenyan safari. The park is massive, and famous for its dust-red elephants and its history of man-eating lions. Another incredible feature of the park is that over 500 species of birds have been recorded here.      Our group stayed at the intimate Sentrim Tsavo camp. Individual tents and a main dining area both overlooked a very active water hole. During our two nights we saw tons of elephants, waterbuck, zebra, impala, hyena, and giraffe at the waterhole. That was when we weren't out on game drive which we would do in the mornings and afternoons. We covered a lot of ground on our animal searches, but with constant stops for wildlife viewing we were only able to scratch the surface of the massive park.     Cheetah watching us as we watch it Wild dogs in Tsavo East!  Some of the animal highlights included a group of three cheet...