Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2024/08/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Great portrait and it appears you have solved the LUG photographing the black cat conundrum. I'm just glad the landowner went for $1000 a day instead of $50,000 to hunt a black leopard. On Mon, Aug 5, 2024, 10:14 AM Jayanand Govindaraj via LUG < lug at leica-users.org> wrote: > I returned a few days ago from Laikipia in Kenya, off the beaten track, > and gaining currency in wildlife circles as a place to go for unique > encounters with a wild, 3 year old black leopard called Giza. > > Laikipia is in the North Central part of Kenya, and is a place to go for > leopards, (one) black leopard and wild dog sightings - and as it is located > in a private conservancy, you can be out till 9pm. Thanks to this, night > sightings of leopards are plentiful. Giza, too, did not disappoint, she > showed herself in more than 50% of the drives we did, and she had no fear > of vehicles, making the sightings really satisfying. The service at the > River Camp where we stayed was excellent, and the staff did whatever they > could to keep us comfortable. That is the good news.The bad news is that > accommodation is rustic/basic and the food was of indifferent quality. A > landowner suddenly found that a black leopard cub was visible on his lands, > and hastily built a few structures and started charging exorbitant amounts > (over US$1000 a day per person) for the experience - which is tailored more > towards the general tourist rather than photographers, but it is early days > yet, and they will surely learn to cater to photographers in the days to > come. > > The experience is most certainly unique and out of this world, and probably > is the only one of its kind available, that I know of, for close encounters > with black leopards, but comes at a high cost, especially given the basic > quality of the boarding and lodging. The demand is certainly there, though, > as they are booked solid till July 2025! > > On reflection, I am indeed glad that I did go there. > > A dozen photographic studies of Giza are available here: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Laikipia/ > > Please see LARGE > > Comments and criticism, as ever, welcome. > > Cheers > Jayanand > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >