Most memorable experience
"Having travelled a fair bit around the world, it’s pretty hard for me to pick just one experience! Seeing playful leopard seals in Antarctica, stumbling upon sand cats in Saudi Arabia and gorilla trekking in Uganda top the list, though while on my most recent safari to Botswana, I saw so many leopards! I couldn’t believe my luck because on previous safaris around Africa I’d maybe catch a glimpse of a leopard in the distance, but on this occasion, at Wilderness Mombo, I saw five! The final leopard I saw while in Botswana was waiting for a family of warthogs to come out of their den and was patiently waiting. The warthog kept poking its head out of the den and the leopard would perk up and try and get closer. Night was falling, so I’m not sure of the outcome, but I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to see several leopards at just one camp.
Another experience for me would be seeing a cobra in Hwange National Park. I am not a snake person at all, but I did appreciate how difficult it was for my guide at Wilderness Linkwasha to spot the cobra in the grass. There was a bird that had landed near the cobra and seemed oblivious to the danger just a few inches away. The cobra was alert and watching the bird. The bird got a little too close and the cobra went to strike the bird, but it flew away. The cobra slithered off and that’s when we realised just how big this cobra was."