The bush walk starts with checking the area where bushbuck were heard barking in alarm yesterday evening. We are treading carefully, looking for tracks when I spot something red under the trees. Neatly stripped ribs glisten red and my eyes make sense of the twisted carcass. The intestines have been carefully removed and covered with leaves. The empty eye sockets of the ex-bushbuck stare blankly. Excitement erupts - it is a leopard kill, only 100m or so from the lodge. Staff are fetched and measurements taken. Then wee start to look for tracks - not easy in the cloudy low light conditions and with much of the ground covered in leaves. We find tracks on the road - a small female with a cub. We try to follow to where they entered the property but lose the trail.
It's a little disconcerting, hunting for, then following leopard tracks, as every so often I recognise my trainer print from where I ran just a short time before the leopard made its kill. Bushbuck are only a few kilos less than me. I would be an easy kill panting round the dusty path. I make mental note to explore other ways of keeping fit. I don't think my sports bra will be much protection against a stealthy predator.
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