In December 2019, I travelled back home to my family in Kenya. To usher in the New Year, we spent a few nights at a superb boutique lodge, Spirit of the Mara, in the Siana Conservancy. It was there that we spotted this beautiful leopard on the day we arrived at lodge and where I took one of my favorite shots.
The process of achieving this photo was quite an adventure. Courtesy of the lodge, we were designated an open-sided four-wheel-drive vehicle. We also had our own driver, Laban, who was an outstanding tracker and skilled driver. I had mentioned to Laban that I was a professional photographer, so I think he had made it his mission, to make sure that he would help me get the photos I wanted! As we were watching a herd of elephants, grazing by the river, it was Laban, who spotted the leopard across the river, from us.
Leopards are elusive creatures. This leopard blended in beautifully, as he slinked through the low brush. In a split-second Laban told us to “Hold on tight!” and he quickly manoeuvred the huge 4-wheel-drive around the herd of elephants, without causing the animals distress, through two rough luggers and across the river, as we hung on for dear life, to make it to the big cat before he disappeared!
Unfortunately, when we arrived, there was a tourist van parked right in front of the leopard, completely blocking our view. After what seemed like an interminable wait, the leopard moved to within 15 feet of us, and I took this photo. Seeing a leopard for the first time in the wild, brought home to me how stealthy and magnificent these animals really are because just as I finished taking this shot, the leopard stood up and walked away from us. As he slipped into the brush, he was immediately invisible. I had shot over 2000 photos on this trip, but this was, and still is, one of my favourite pictures. Later, Laban told us that even though this leopard was resident to the conservancy and lived in the surrounding hills, sightings were rare, as usually, he only came down to hunt, once a week or so.
There are barely words to describe the excitement streaming through me, when I saw this leopard for the first time in the wild. Its mysterious nature makes it significantly more alluring than I had initially imagined. We must have spent a mere 15 minutes with this leopard, but that is all I needed to recognize and finally appreciate the power, beauty and sheer intelligence these animals hold. I felt an amazing wave of accomplishment, satisfaction and peace and I hope to experience this again and again, and again…
For those photographers out there, as it was quite late on a cloudy afternoon, I had my camera set to shutter speed 1/30, aperture f/6.3, and ISO 1000.
Michelle Akiwumi
Instagram – @kenyakhronicles
Wow! What a lovely image! One would even think it’s a painting!
Right. So Stunning. we Love it too!