We drive through the Sand River, it flows deep and strong after the recent rains, and comes high enough up the Land Rover to wet my shoes. I switch off the engine in the middle of crossing and we laugh like children as the water rushes around our vehicle and the late morning light dances from one rapid to another. It's been a perfect morning and as we approach camp the warm lazy sun makes our thoughts turn to breakfast. Jerry leans forward in the tracker's seat: tracks of the Vomba female on the road, but he doesn't motion for me to slow down: we had seen her walking here the previous night. Just as he raises his head to scan the tree line he lowers it again with a look of concentration...fresh tracks, the same leopard, but walking in the opposite direction. It was difficult to tell in the darkness of the previous evening, but it had looked like she was lactating. Possibly nursing a new leopard. Jerry and I get out of the Landie, examine the tracks on the ground and then examine each other's faces. I raise my eyebrow and all he says is "maaaaaybe mpho". And so begins one of the most special walks of my life. 

Her tracks join the road close to a rocky area she had used for denning previous litters, re-affirming our suspicions. Again I look at my friend before we proceed: our instincts telling us this is not a good place to be, but we have already decided: in the interests of the safety of our fellow rangers and trackers we need to know if she has a den site here. We loose the tracks on the hard granite and I watch Jerry's face change as he closes his eyes and enters a different mind space, trying to take on the thoughts and movements of the leopard. The mother leopard. With her most precious secret. Where did she hide it? His eyes flick open and he searches the rocks. Not there..... not there.... I look over my shoulder and notice two mossy boulders resting against each other, forming a tiny cave. Outside the cave the grass looks to have been recently disturbed....there....

It is a place so beautiful, unique, secret, and at the same time deadly. A tiny little leopard cub stirs within, its eyes only just open, perhaps a little over a week old. We spend seconds that feel like hours outside this sacred nursery, enjoying a moment few humans have ever experienced, our heartbeats audible. Jerry lifts his head to scan the rocks nervously anticipating the return of the mother while I grab a quick photo with my pocket camera...it is time to go. As we head back to the vehicle, delirious from our experience, I wonder how much of this leopard's life we will be priveledged to share in.