Shareholders Paul and Cheryl Freund finally made it back to Limpopo-Lipadi last October after almost three years of Covid break. Here is the first of their stories:
“As expected, the reserve was hot and dry, but grass coverage was still good. Even though browsers and grazers were still looking healthy, everybody was waiting for the rains and some fresh green coming up. A lot had changed during our absence, Limpopo-Lipadi’s excessive lion population (together with numerous spotted hyenas) was greatly reduced to cut predation pressure and improve breeding success of important prey species like wildebeest and impala.
Currently, the Reserve’s main predators are once again a growing wild dog pack and a very healthy leopard population. It looks like every suitable territory is occupied by leopards and many of them have lost their fear of cars, making Limpopo-Lipadi a prime location to observe these rather elusive cats. Over our three weeks stay we have been able to observe seven individuals, some of them multiple times. One fellow shareholder once managed to even spot five different leopards in one day!
We had good sightings in almost all corners of the Reserve. This is one of our most memorable encounters:
Having just arrived in Limpopo-Lipadi and taking a first afternoon drive, it took just minutes to spot a very confident female with her nine-months old cub at a waterhole near the main entrance. Both cats were very relaxed and gave us plenty of time to observe.”
Want to be a part of Limpopo-Lipadi’s adventures? For discreet information on share sales, contact sylvia@partofafrica.com. To book a safari, request our rates via WhatsApp: (+267) 75995115.
Photos: Cheryl and Paul Freund