There are travel stories you plan for, sunrises over the savanna, herds of elephants lumbering past, maybe even a lion’s guttural roar in the distance. Then there are the stories that sneak up on you, like our punctured tyre in the middle leopard territory.
What’s the first rule of a self-drive safari? Under no circumstance are you to get out of your vehicle! Note, in Africa the reserves are hundreds and thousands of hectares and so with no wifi, no phone signals, no patrols and multiple entry and exit gates one can only conclude your chances of rescue are at best, rather slim and likely to be later rather than sooner!
The Scene? Wildness. Africa, two weeks into our trip and we had seen and experienced more than we could ever have imagined, except….? A leopard! It had become somewhat of a mission, a fixation of sorts, and so we were determined to try and see and experience a leopard in the wild!
So off we set, unanimously deciding to go ‘off-road’ in the reserve, into a known leopard sighting area, after all, “these vehicles are made for this right!”
Picture this, you are bumping along a dusty dirt corrugated rocky type track, late afternoon scanning the bush for a flash of sleepy rosetted fur, when suddenly, the vehicle lurches. That unmistakable thwump-thwump followed by a huge cartoon level hissing sound that can mean only one thing, a puncture, yes…in the heart of leopard country. “Not to worry” says my husband, “we can drive … just very very slowly, remember, these vehicles are made for this!”
Fast forward, 2m later when my husband’s ashen face declares “Marie this vehicle can go no further, this puncture is baddddd!”
Now changing a tyre is never the highlight of anyone’s day but then add the possibility of a curious hungry master predator big cat or two or three and it becomes a high adrenaline sport! Here’s what went down!
First, came the eventual realisation that, yes, we would have to get out of the car to change the tyre. Then came the “leopard lookout” debacle when things took a very dark turn for the worse indeed. The horror of finding out during a bottom clenching exchange of leopard watch that there was absolutely no jack in the wheel change kit of our rental vehicle. We scrambled quick-time back into the vehicle with Bolt level speed. Mouths dry at first trying to think our way out of this latest drama of ours.
What to do? Go into the potentially leopardary savannah grass and look for rocks, sticks!? Prop up the car and try and dig out with our bare hands the ground beneath the tyre? The thought of going outside again was sickening. Savannah grass either side of the vehicle …and lots of trees for a smart leopard to spot us from, we wondered how best to play it!
Now if there is one thing about my husband and I, our adventures do lead us to get ourselves into plenty of fixes and so we are really very calm when things invariably don’t go to plan! While we sat figuring out our options and quite frankly evaluating our life choices while in Africa we were incredibly fortunate as two German travellers, thankfully as lustful for a leopard sighting as us and on the same mission came down this not so beaten track and … most importantly, they had a jack! Yay! We were saved!
Well almost, we just had to actually use it and not get eaten, for leopards blend seamlessly into the environment, they are well-known for their stealth and ability to “move like whispers.” A chilling thought when you’re headed out into their domain. Nascar pit crews have nothing on this husband and wife team. Tyre, jack, and every bolt is spun except one, which was scarified due to some phantom movement in the grass. That distant sound? Probably just a bird…well…hopefully!!!
Once the new tyre was on (minus one bolt), jack returned to our new German besties, and the adrenaline settled in our bodies, something magical happened. We realise we’d survived! It’s our safari story that will outlast any slideshow of sunsets or rhinos. The experience of facing the wild together!
You live, and you learn right! Has our lust for adventure being dampened? Not at all, but in future we will always check the spare tyre kit has everything, as sometimes the best days come with just a little extra tread.
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