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Spotting the rare black leopard in Kenya
Trailing a headline-making cat, Uganda’s chimps, Botswana’s wildlife jackpot: Africa’s travel hits from Good Weekend’s 2023 Dream Destinations issue.
By Ute Junker and Catherine Marshall
The rare black leopard of Laikipia.Credit: Will Burrard-Lucas
Trailing the rare black leopard of Laikipia, Kenya
WHY: This fabled creature comes to life at a singular safari trip.
THE EXPERIENCE: Stories of black leopards have long swirled about the craggy folds of Laikipia plateau, north of Nairobi. When photographer Will Burrard-Lucas published high-quality camera trap footage of Laikipia Wilderness Camp’s resident melanistic leopard in 2019, news of this anomalous cat’s presence made headlines. Guests on Bench Africa’s three-day Laikipia safari have a good chance of spotting the big cat themselves: unlike the handful of other black leopards reported to inhabit the region, Giza (“darkness” in Swahili) is habituated to vehicles. Her welfare is prioritised, however, with strictly limited vehicle numbers and viewing periods. At dusk, trackers scan the scrub beyond the Ewaso Narok river; Giza manifests like a spectre below a ridgeline, weaving a sooty trail towards the water and flashing amber eyes at her stunned observers. Rosettes drift like holograms across her dark pelt; the recessive gene that causes melanism is rare in African leopards, but Giza casts those long-told tales of black leopards in exhilarating, three-dimensional light.
IDEAL FOR: Safari-goers keen for a unique sighting.
LIKE THIS? TRY: Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, where melanistic specimens of the long-legged wildcat, the serval, have been sighted. Catherine Marshall
Wildlife-watching in Botswana
Lion-spotting on safari in Botswana.Credit: andBeyond
WHY: Doesn’t everyone long to unleash their inner Attenborough?
THE EXPERIENCE: Every game drive is different but in Botswana’s mighty Okavango Delta, one thing is guaranteed: you are certain to see something wonderful. Sustained by an average annual influx of 111 million cubic metres of water, the delta is home to an extraordinary range of wildlife and safaris are likely to pack in more drama than the latest Netflix hit. On any given day you may follow a pack of wild dogs as they stalk a herd of impala, or watch as hyenas from rival clans challenge each other for territory. You may even spy a fleet-footed leopard dragging a kill up a tree. The soundtrack is as memorable as the visuals, whether it’s a chorus of bellowing hippos or the roar of a solitary lion drifting through the night. Choose an operator, such as AndBeyond, that invests in conservation and local communities to increase the positive impact of your spending.
IDEAL FOR: Safari fans and drama queens.
LIKE THIS? TRY: Following the vast herds of wildebeest as they migrate across Kenya’s Masai Mara and Tanzania’s Serengeti. A mind-blowing experience. Ute Junker
Tracking chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda
Watching chimps in the wild can offer a window into our selves.Credit: Getty Images
WHY: Some of our closest living relatives inhabit this primate-dense forest.
THE EXPERIENCE: Humans share 98.8 per cent of DNA with chimpanzees – and it shows. Here in the “primate capital of the world”, chimps offer a window into our (sometimes basest) selves: jealousy, sociability, tightfistedness, vigour. A juvenile tears through the forest canopy, outraged at the alpha male’s superiority and impressive haul of food. There’s sustenance aplenty here, as the youngster already knows; fruit now in hand, he drops onto a bough and sulkily eats his fill. Sustainable food sources for communities living on the park’s periphery aren’t similarly guaranteed; hunters’ snares are a threat to the conservation of endangered chimps and the many other species congregating here. Tourism and community upliftment are critical antidotes to this threat. Visitors contribute directly to the conservation economy while tracking chimps; in turn, they’re able to commune with them. They observe in that alpha male a model of quietude and restraint: he ignores the juvenile’s rant, savours his meal, and casts a final, benevolent look at his upright kinsfolk before disappearing into the tangle of foliage.
IDEAL FOR: Fans of Jane Goodall and David Attenborough.
LIKE THIS? TRY: Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park, where visitors can trace the footsteps of Goodall, who began her epic study of chimpanzees here in 1960. Catherine Marshall
In association with Traveller. Thank you to Julietta Jameson, Jane Reddy and Anthony Dennis from team Traveller for their help on this issue.
To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times.