The mighty leopards of Tsavo

It’s all legs and a tale when we catch the first glimpse of her. The she-leopard is lounging on a fat branch high on the tree to escape the mid-morning heat. She is stunningly beautiful, her coat patterned in black rosettes on a glossy coat. She’s young and in her prime. The tree she lounges on is by the side of the road, a few minutes’ drive from the luxurious Finch Hattons Camp. 

She could be the one who sometimes slinks through the camp, watched by the guards at night. “We estimate a hundred leopards in the Tsavo enclave,” tells William Kinaka of Finch Hattons. He has many stories of encounters with leopards in his 20 years in Tsavo. 

Nobody knows for sure how many leopards we have in the country because there is so little research done on the world’s most elusive cat. The only recent research is by Yumi Yamane of the leopards of Nairobi National Park. 

The ones she collared show the powerful cat moving out of the park and into the forests of Ngong and beyond, quietly passing through the urban sprawl of Kibera. The leopards do this to find new mates and give birth to healthy cubs. If they were stuck in a fenced park, they like all the other wildlife would in-breed and produce weaker and weaker offspsrings. In any case, there are fewer than 10 in this urban wilderness.

Our she-leopard continues to ignore us, stretches at some point, and continues to lounge leisurely on her perch overlooking the busy waterhole with stately Maasai giraffes, zebras and antelopes drinking there.

Kilimanjaro becomes clear in a bright blue sky. We’re sandwiched between the world’s tallest stand-alone mountain and the long range of the Chyulu Hills that are amongst the world’s youngest at 500 years. It’s a dramatic landscape, volcanic and dry, the grasses a crisp gold burnt by the sun. It’s only the acacias and the commiphoras that stand their might against the blazing sun, their leaves still green.

A herd of elephants come to the waterhole near the leopard’s lounge. It’s rare for a leopard to attack an elephant, though it can hunt up to three times her weight and carry the quarry up the tree, thanks to its powerful neck muscles and legs.

As noon approaches, we’re at the famous springs – Mzima – crystal clear with fish swimming in it. The ranger points to the crocodile in deep slumber near the water by her nest that in a few weeks will hatch with tiny crocs racing to the spring pool.

The water is clear thanks to the lava-porous Chyulu hills. Some six centuries ago, the hills lashed out with volcanic fury, spitting out burning molten rock that is today known as Shetani (devils) flow. It’s a veritable black carpet stretching for miles into the Tsavo. Few animals can survive the rugged molten outflow except for the reptiles and the Klipspringer, a small antelope adapted to life on the rocks. The hair on its coat has hollow shafts that cushion the antelope should it accidently fall on the rocks while its hooves unlike other antelopes are small and pointed, so that it can spring from rock to rock.

As the day cools, the sun begins to slide down Kilimanjaro’s right shoulder and we toast to this magnificence.

In the darkness under the Milky Way, with its billions of stars and constellations including our sun, a Steppe eagle settles on an acacia. This beautiful eagle silhouetted against the Chyulus flies into Africa from Europe or Asia to escape the winter there. Having flown some 6000 kilometres one way, it finds secure places in the few protected parks that have the trees for them to rest. In a few weeks, it will be ready to fly back, having fattened up during its time in Africa – and hopefully return next year.

Under the spell of darkness, a white-tailed mongoose dashes across the road while the rarely seen civet lurks around in search for its nightly feast. Found in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, it’s in high demand that drives the illegal trade. When agitated, it produces the pheromone that gives the musky notes needed in perfumes. I’d rather skip the perfume.

Back at Finch Hattons, we’re fine dining on steak and snapper with the crocodile lying still in the pool by the tent. It’s an eclectic world of wild creatures and luxury living.

More on Finch Hattons – log on https://finchhattons.com/ It’s half way between Nairobi and Mombasa. 

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