NAMIBIA: ZAMBIA: Namibia & Zambia, The Tale Of Two Leopards

[AZDAVE]

+1 on waiting for the second half

 

[JES Adventures]

Sorry for the long silence but we've had a full two weeks and the internet access has been very sporadic.

Here we go!

 

[JES Adventures]

Day 14 to 16

This was a travel day, we drove from Mbizi to Lusaka then caught a flight to Livingstone. We arrived at the Royal Livingstone early evening had a shower then a great meal.

If you are ever near Livingstone, I highly recommend spending a night or two in the great hotel. The setting is unbelievable, service impeccable and the staff extremely friendly. It’s a nice way to end a Safari before travelling on. The hotel sits inside the Mosi au Tunya National Park so you never know when a parade of zebra or impala will walk across the lawn!

The family spent Friday visiting Victoria Falls, the spa and the bar on the Zambezi. It was a nice couple of days to sleep in and relax.

 

[JES Adventures]

Day 17

The charter pilot met us at the airport, and we cleared customs and were headed for Namibia in less than a half hour.

For this chapter of the Safari, we will be hunting with Peter Thormahlen of Thormahlen and Cochran Safaris in their Bushmanland concession. Our history with Peter goes back seventeen years when I completed my Big 5 with him taking a rhino in the Songimvelo Game Reserve in South Africa.

My eldest daughter first hunted with Peter when she was seven years old and she said, “if I ever go on my own Safari, I want to hunt a leopard with Uncle Peter”.

Bushmanland will be quite a contrast to the densely forested Mbizi Game Reserve, and I can’t wait to see it.

The first leg of the flight was a short hop and we landed in Katima Mulilo to clear Namibian Customs.

As typical whenever I have come to Namibia, the customs officer was very friendly and turned us around in about 30 minutes.

Airborne again, it took about 15 minutes into the flight to reach cruising altitude and smooth air. We had a one hour forty-minute flight to the airstrip near camp.

We touched down at the Mangetti Dune strip Abiliu Huelepo, one of the PH’s was there to pick us up. The drive to camp was just under an hour and once there, we were met with cold wash cloths and a welcome cool drink.

The camp Manager Duki remembered us from our time spent at the Mahango camp in 2016 and we greeted each other with a big hug. She showed us to our tents, and we got settled.

Once unpacked we sat at the dining room patio, then by the fire when the sun had set. It is noticeably cooler here and I grabbed a light jacket for the evening.

Peter arrived just after sunset, and we had a good visit catching up. After dinner everyone seemed tired, so we called it an early night.

 

[JES Adventures]

Day 1

It’s cold but comfortable in the tent as the staff have placed a hot water bottle in the bed which certainly took the edge off of the cold.

I woke about 6:30 and lay in bed saying my prayers of thanksgiving for the day and the time being with my family. Sirka brought coffee to the tent for us, and I got dressed and poured us two cups then went to the fire to watch the sun rise and see the day coming to life.

A steady stream of doves poured into the pan about 70 meters from the deck, an amazing sight to see. So, I sipped my coffee and enjoyed the new day.

After a full breakfast, we hit the road to check baits. Peter has another PH, Chris Joubert that has been pre-baiting for us and has had several baits hit.

They generally use donkeys for bait here and Chris has set a long bait line, over 150 km’s.
We made our way down a bush track for a little more than an hour when we came upon Chris and his camp. There are eleven baits out over 88 Km’s to the West of the fly camp, so we took off to begin checking.

Throughout the day, we checked seven baits, all but two had been hit the last two days. Two last night and one we believe we ran the cat off of at 4 o’clock!

At the first bait the camera showed a female feeding with two cubs. On to another bait and was hit. It must’ve been a male as he pulled the bait down from the tree breaking the wire. The seventh bait is where we believe that we jumped the leopard from the fresh tracks.

Unfortunately, the trail camera failed (seems to be our bad luck) so they freshened the bait and set a new camera. The size of the track was promising, and all agreed it is a male.

Peter had the trackers cut a good size acacia tree to pull behind the car to sweep the road. This will make any tracks more visible when we come back tomorrow.

We arrived back at camp a little before seven and everyone hit the showers. I was the first one at the fire with a glass of wine. The balance of the group joined me fireside for a drink then we had a lovely dinner after eight.

The fireside conversation after dinner was obviously speculation about the leopard we ran off and if he fed again once we left.

I was the first one to call it, I was off to bed by ten, thinking about what tomorrow would hold.

 

[MMAL]

Keep it coming. Great read.

 

[Firebird]

Excited to read more, glad you and your family are having such an excellent adventure!

 

[Nyati]

 

[JES Adventures]

Day 2

I woke about a half hour before the coffee delivery at six. It was noticeably warmer last night, and I drank a cup with Debra before heading to the fire at a quarter of seven.

After a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausage we were on the road to check baits. It was a little before nine when we got to Chris’ fly camp. We collected more bait there and started down the 88 km bait line.

Polous the tracker sat on the front seat of the bull bar so he could watch the road for fresh tracks.

The first six baits had no hit last night. We got to the bait where we jumped the cat, and it was hit hard. The trail camera proved it all. He came at 6:34 then was up and down the tree until 6:30 the next morning. So, he was twelve hours up and down the tree eating, but still plenty of meat was left.

Next, Peter chose the correct place for the blind and they began to put it up. Any obstructions were cleared from the sight path and the chairs and rest put in place. The plan is to hunt this leopard today.

The Blind, all brushed in.

Peter moved the cruiser back away from the blind a few hundred yards and we had a quick lunch. By 2 they were in the blind and we would drive about a kilometer away and wait for the shot or 6:30 whichever comes first.

Shortly after five I lit a cigar and sat waiting, enjoying the last hour of the day with my youngest daughter. We chatted while facing the direction they were hunting, waiting for the shot.

It was nearing 6:15 when I mentioned to Chris that Peter told Polous to pick him up at 6:30.

The crew was about twenty yards behind the vehicles talking quietly when Chris said, “did you hear that?” my daughter said, “sounded like a shot”. Debra confirmed that she heard it as well and I could see Polous coming quickly. It was 6:19 and we jumped in the cruiser and made our way to the bait.

Polous was driving fast, intent to get there quickly to help with tracking if necessary. He was going so fast I had to stop him when we blew by the bait!

Peter hollered and we backed up, Polous got out and bolted like an Olympic sprinter and Peter yelled to Polous he could not see the cat. Polous went wide around and confirmed the leopard lay dead at the base of the tree.

Peter yelled for my daughter to come quickly from the blind, and handshakes and hugs circulated amongst the joyous crowd.

We hurried to get daytime photographs, but the light faded quickly so we resorted to flashlights.
Melcom was ecstatic with the footage, capturing this leopard hunt in the daytime as well.

Polous the tracker with the Leopard

It’s been an amazing three-week hunting leopards in the forests of the Luangwa Valley and the arid region of Bushmanland.

Back at camp we were welcomed with a celebration and made a champagne toast to the success of the hunt.

Doekie brought out a great meal of steak, potatoes and vegetables followed by a wonderful dessert.

After dinner we enjoyed cigars and whiskeys by the fire and relived the memories made today, we are truly Blessed.

This amazing photo was captured by the game camera just moments before the shot.

 

[Scott CWO]

Day 2

I woke about a half hour before the coffee delivery at six. It was noticeably warmer last night, and I drank a cup with Debra before heading to the fire at a quarter of seven.

After a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausage we were on the road to check baits. It was a little before nine when we got to Chris’ fly camp. We collected more bait there and started down the 88 km bait line.

Polous the tracker sat on the front seat of the bull bar so he could watch the road for fresh tracks.

The first six baits had no hit last night. We got to the bait where we jumped the cat, and it was hit hard. The trail camera proved it all. He came at 6:34 then was up and down the tree until 6:30 the next morning. So, he was twelve hours up and down the tree eating, but still plenty of meat was left.

Next, Peter chose the correct place for the blind and they began to put it up. Any obstructions were cleared from the sight path and the chairs and rest put in place. The plan is to hunt this leopard today.
View attachment 543590
The Blind, all brushed in.

Peter moved the cruiser back away from the blind a few hundred yards and we had a quick lunch. By 2 they were in the blind and we would drive about a kilometer away and wait for the shot or 6:30 whichever comes first.

Shortly after five I lit a cigar and sat waiting, enjoying the last hour of the day with my youngest daughter. We chatted while facing the direction they were hunting, waiting for the shot.

It was nearing 6:15 when I mentioned to Chris that Peter told Polous to pick him up at 6:30.

The crew was about twenty yards behind the vehicles talking quietly when Chris said, “did you hear that?” my daughter said, “sounded like a shot”. Debra confirmed that she heard it as well and I could see Polous coming quickly. It was 6:19 and we jumped in the cruiser and made our way to the bait.

Polous was driving fast, intent to get there quickly to help with tracking if necessary. He was going so fast I had to stop him when we blew by the bait!

Peter hollered and we backed up, Polous got out and bolted like an Olympic sprinter and Peter yelled to Polous he could not see the cat. Polous went wide around and confirmed the leopard lay dead at the base of the tree.

Peter yelled for my daughter to come quickly from the blind, and handshakes and hugs circulated amongst the joyous crowd.

We hurried to get daytime photographs, but the light faded quickly so we resorted to flashlights.
Melcom was ecstatic with the footage, capturing this leopard hunt in the daytime as well.
View attachment 543592
Polous the tracker with the Leopard

It’s been an amazing three-week hunting leopards in the forests of the Luangwa Valley and the arid region of Bushmanland.

Back at camp we were welcomed with a celebration and made a champagne toast to the success of the hunt.
View attachment 543593


Doekie brought out a great meal of steak, potatoes and vegetables followed by a wonderful dessert.

After dinner we enjoyed cigars and whiskeys by the fire and relived the memories made today, we are truly Blessed.
View attachment 543594
This amazing photo was captured by the game camera just moments before the shot.

Wow, congrats to you all! Well done! I thought this leopard hunt might go a little faster.

 

[Fatback]

Congrats to all involved in such a great adventure. Yours daughters have a couple of great cats to remember this special time spent with family in wonderful places. Thank you for allowing the rest of us to tag along with such a good report. Bravo.

 

[Kmiller]

Wonderful report

Congrats.

 

[WAB]

What a great adventure. Congrats to your daughters!

 

[Riksa]

Congratulations! What a great hunt and experience

 

[AZDAVE]

Congratulations your daughters have both shot nice cats and the family time together is priceless!

 

[Tucketed]

congrats, great write up. Beautiful cats. The best is the family time. Nothing better than that.

 

[cls]

Congratulations all around. I enjoyed following along on your family's adventure.

 

[PARA45]

Wow, what a fantastic adventure. Congrats all around. Gorgeous cat!!! Thanks for taking us along and sharing your adventure w us.

 

[gillettehunter]

Nice looking cat! Pre-baiting sure paid off. Congrats
Bruce

 

[WMU05]

Wow! Outstanding. Congrats to you, your two girls, and the entire hunting parties!