Looking back at My Time with Leopards at MalaMala [Safari in South Africa]

I spent four years [1995 to 2000] working at MalaMala in South Africa, which is in the Sabi Sands Reserve and part of the greater Kruger National Park eco-system. It was a wonderful time of my life, an opportunity to live with animals in their natural habitats and share with guests [on a luxury South Africa safari] this incredible experience. Having spent much time in the Kruger National Park, where you have limited opportunity to view predators, I realised what a privilege it was to be able to drive off-road, and really observe creatures behaving naturally. Leopards are notoriously elusive, but at Mala Mala we saw plenty, pretty much every day and on some days we saw many different individuals - my record was nine different leopards in one day. I fell in love with leopards and couldnt wait to watch and photograph them, from mating and cubs to territorial fights and of course the hunt - rarely observed!

Here is a selection of my images of leopards, all shot on film, before digital cameras came along, so please forgive the slide mounts and dust/scratches!

If you are looking to come on a luxury safari to South Africa, MalaMala is one of the very best destinations, where you are guaranteed to see a lot!