The Leopard Has No Name

One of the things we absolutely knew we wanted to do on this trip was true bush camping, meaning that there would be no fences and no separation between us and the wild animals, save for the canvas of our tent.

Now, it’s one thing to be sitting safe at home thinking about what a cool adventure that would be, and quite another to be in the middle of the bush, keeping your eyes peeled for any number of wild and potentially dangerous animals trying to make their way into your camp site.

The night the elephants visited us we were nervous at first, and then felt quite safe as we watched the huge creatures surround our vehicle and eat the trees and leaves around it without any intent of harming us. Their movements were so peaceful, in fact, that we both fell asleep to the sounds of ellies breathing and chewing around us.

A few hours after we drifted to sleep, we woke up with the feeling that something else was in the camp. We knew it was big, but we didn’t want to shine our flashlights out the doors and attract the attention of whatever was out there. It sounded big, and as Asa says, quite like a buffalo that could purr. We felt pretty safe in our tent on top of our LandCruiser, but we slept a little more lightly after that.

The next morning, we walked through the campsite and chatted with a few other campers, mostly comparing stories of how close the elephants had come to each tent and how early they had entered the campsite.

One of the campers said, “Did the leopard stop by your camp? You do know there’s a resident leopard, right? It likes to live in the campsites.”

Asa went and found Eric, the camp host who lived at the site, to find out whether it was a leopard that had visited our camp the night before.

Asa: “I understand there’s a leopard in camp.”

Eric: “Mmm.” (this was the Mmm that means yes, you are correct!”)

Asa: “I think I heard him last night.”

Eric: “Those were elephants.”

 

Asa: “No, much later, after the elephants had left.”

Eric: “Mmm, the leopard was in camp last night, but you don’t need to worry, he only likes to go drink at camp 2 and then leave the camp.”

Asa: “We’re in camp 2.”

Eric: “Mmmm.”

Asa: “Well, now that we’ve met Matthew, I have to ask – does the leopard have a name?”

Eric: “No, the leopard has no name.”

We both slept in fits and starts that night, and although the elephants didn’t return to our camp, we did hear hippos wandering around and the leopard returned, mostly silent except for the tell-tale purring of the huge cat.

In the morning, Julia was washing dishes when Eric came up and said, “Did you hear the leopard last night? I heard him walking through the camp!”

Julia: “Yes, we heard him purring and drinking.”

Eric: “Mmmm. You must check the ground by your camp for tracks. Also, there’s a group of lions outside the camp. Just outside. So don’t walk around.”