“There’s a leopard on my stoep!” is not something you hear everyday, unless you’re in Africa… then the next sentence could be, “its stealing the patio furniture cushions”.
Tally Angle, a tourist from North Carolina in the USA literally had a leopard on her stoep (porch) when she was recently staying at Singita Ebony Lodge in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve in Kruger National Park.
She describes the experience of the leopard setting up camp in their midst as ‘utterly enchanting’.
“This 18-month-old leopard enjoyed dinner on our doorstep, camping out under our porch, and then showing up with breakfast on the tree limb 20 ft (about 6 metres) from our back porch!” she says on the official SANParks – Kruger National Park Facebook page where the photos were originally shared.
“The funniest thing he did was steal couch cushions from the main lodge and drag them into the branches of surrounding trees. Oh, he also walked in one morning at breakfast and stole an apple from the reception fruit bowl. All together it was absolutely amazing!”
Although the Angles were moved to another room after the leopard made himself at home, “he spent the afternoon watching me have a facial and massage at the resort spa,” Tally says. “The staff was calling me the Leopard Whisperer….”