Spots

We arrived at the gate a few minutes late. Our trusty guide, Willem (pronounced Villem), was waiting anxiously with his hand perched above his brow to block the sun as he scanned the parking lot for us. He must have had intel on something big. He rushed us through the permit process and within minutes the five of us had passed the threshold into the wild.

As our farewell safari in Kruger National Park commenced, Villem announced that he had something very exciting to show us. We squirmed on our elevated safari bench seats of the green open-air truck that had become our second home for the week. None of us had the bravery to ask, “Is it a leopard?!” for fear that even speaking the name of the magical creature would jinx it all away.

The leopard was the only animal of the big five (rhino, elephant, lion, buffalo and leopard) we hadn’t yet spotted, and by far the most elusive. Every day Villem would say “look for spots”! and I promise you, we tried. We would drive hours to a verified leopard spotting, only to arrive shortly after it had vanished.

We soon arrived at a lineup of cars, a sure sign of a solid sighting. Villem turned off the engine and smiled proudly as he pointed to a tree in the distance.

Nothing.

He gave us the binoculars and continued to point. Still, we saw nothing. Apparently, there were three cheetahs lying asleep under the tree in the distance. Cheetahs? These weren’t the spots we were hoping for. Did Villem forget the amazing close-up encounter we had with a cheetah just yesterday? How could this be our grand finale?

See the cheetahs?

Neither did we.

None of us outwardly complained. How could we? Afterall, we were on safari in Africa in the presence of wild cheetahs. One could be so fortunate. And leopard sightings are exceedingly rare. But we all felt it. Disappointment.

Eventually the time felt right for us to “bubble on” as our beloved Villem would say. The park was closing. We surrendered to the mysterious leopard and felt a shift in our sentiment. A lifting. Our time in Kruger National Park had come to an end and our hearts were truly full. We relaxed into our seats and savored the last few minutes in the park. This place will undoubtedly remain one of our RTW’s most favorite.

Villem drove on, choosing to take the 137, a narrow dirt road that would short cut us back to the entrance. Moments after the turn, the spots we had been waiting for appeared before our very eyes.

A leopard.

It felt like a familiar apparition. I was sure I had seen him before in my dreams. He was stunning, solid, majestic and confident. He took his time. We cupped our mouths and sunk into the magical reward for our own detachment. Time stretched and even space seemed to warp. We were alone in the universe with the leopard. And we were deeeep in family flow.

Later Villem explained what it was like to hear us breathe during this most magical encounter of our lives. We all felt it. Pure alignment. Pure connection. And pure knowing – knowing that we are exactly where we need to be, doing exactly what we need to be doing. Both on this sunset safari and on this grand journey around the globe.

Onward we trek.