Sly, Shy, and Sneaky

By far, the BEST part of Samburu was seeing the GORGEOUS leopard! The leopard pattern was absolutely beautiful to see in person! Before we left for the safari, I knew my favorite African animal was the giraffe, but I also was curious as to what else I would like. Of course, I was really looking forward to seeing the big cats- the lions, cheetahs, and leopards. It didn't take long for me to decide that my new favorite wild animal is the LEOPARD!! They truly are sly, shy, and sneaky animals as they live and hide up in the trees. The leopards really don't like it when vehicles pull up next to them and will often jump down and run to hide in the bushes somewhere...this was very unlike the cheetahs and lions, as they don't mind if you pull right on up to them. We found a leopard on the ground and tried following it for awhile, but the sneaky little thing crept down so low in the tall grass and we lost it. I was pretty shocked that we couldn't find it considering we were only about 10-15 feet away from it. Searching for a leopard became a fun game and was one of the highlights of our trip. We were pretty lucky to see so much within two days!

We got to see it:

Eat...

Climb and move around...

Sit and rest...

Even go to the bathroom...haha.

And believe it or not, when it was finished doing its business, it covered his mess up with dirt, just like cats!

We also got to see its lovely food hanging from the tree...

If you look closely, you can actually see the leopards food (a gazelle) hanging from the left side of the tree.

Here is a closer look...

Pretty sick, I know...but you must admit that it is pretty cool too! It amazes me how the leopards carry their food up the tree and hang it. They do this so that the lions and cheetahs won't still their kill from them, because they are stronger animals. He will feed on this for a few days and then attack again! 

Just thought I would share my love for the leopards!