[Leica] Black Leopard Experience

[Jayanand Govindaraj]

 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