IT was a contrast of extreme opposite emotions experienced by a Richards Bay family and friends who spent Christmas Day at the Mkhuze Game Reserve.
Having spent almost the whole day at Khumasinga Hide, the group was about to pack up at sunset when another visitor alerted them to a magnificent leopard that arrived to drink at the water hole.
‘This leopard walked in from the bush and gave us all a photographic opportunity that I will never forget,’ said Theuns Germishuys.
‘We got the most brilliant photos and then headed along the enclosed pathway, exited the hide and walked on cloud nine towards our cars.’
Had they been more alert to their surroundings, the group may have felt decidedly less elated.
‘We had almost reached our cars when something told me to look back,’ said Theuns.
‘In the dark I saw two big male lions lying next to the pathway, barely three metres from where we had walked just seconds before.
‘Imagine the shivers down my spine, and all the thoughts that went through my head.
‘I think the term ‘instant laxative’ could well be appropriate!’
