The 1 lioness then entered the road, so we patiently waited for the car in front of us to move slowly forward, but seconds later 2 OSVs from Shalati train accommodation arrived from behind us, so I expected them to have some manners and wait, but they did the opposite and both instantly drove around us, so I started chirping as they overtook us.
“Where do you think you are going!”
“HEY, there’s a queue!”
The OSV drivers and all their guests clearly heard me, but the drivers just ignored me and then they also drove around the car in front of us and parked virtually on top of the lioness blocking everybody’s view. In a few seconds the lioness moved off into the bush and the other lions moved from various other spots in the bush to follow.
I then wanted to have further “F$^&” words with the OSV drivers, but they sped off down the road and out of sight at a pace that was definitely above the speed limit, so I couldn’t help but wonder if they had received a sighting radio call, however we were still fuming so we made a mental note to continue looking out for them on the road.
We continued on down the H4-1 and by the time we were around 1km from Nkuhlu we had virtually forgotten about the OSV issue, however just before the 1st Nkuhlu luxury tent came into view we found the 2 OSV drivers again stopped on the side of the road with another OSV, so I approached to have my say, but quickly got distracted when I realised that there was a leopard in the tree which had to take priority.
“Leopard, in tree! Pass the camera quick in case it moves!”
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The leopard was on the inland side of the road, so once again the afternoon sun was setting behind her which made pics rather difficult for our photographic skill set.
This was the female with 1 eye that I had been looking for as she has 2 teenagers that had been hanging around with her, but the junior adults weren’t around or visible this day. I believe via the KNP leopard rumour mill that she lost her eye due to a lion attack, but I can’t confirm that, however we spotted her last year October and she had both eyes then.
Other cars returning to Skukuza or Kruger Gate from the south then started to arrive and the OSVs were in the middle of the road blocking traffic as per usual, so the sighting was quickly becoming unpleasant.
The leopardess also seemed to be getting uncomfortable with all the attention/loud OSV guests and she suddenly got up and bailed out the tree. As luck would have it, she came straight towards us parked on the outskirts of the car rugby scrum, but this caused me to have a mild meltdown since she was going to walk directly past the Cow’s side of the car, so the Cow was under pressure to get pics and I wasn’t making it any easier with my demands.
“Take pics, hurry up, she’s going to walk right past you!”
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It's not often that you get a leopard sighting like that...what an amazing experience.
It does get a little much braaiing every night, but it's part of a KNP trip for us 
Instead of burning a piece of bush, the huts will be burnt or possibly braaing in KNP will belong to history 
It's also a built in fancy braai, so there's no siting around it 
