The Stakeout - Walt and Thea Tingle

When he came, he came in silence and with great grace. His approach was a feline ballet of intricate steps over and around the stalks of grass and the twigs and the rocks that could have signaled his approach.

A moment before, Petros had whispered "He's coming", and had switched on the spotlight aimed at the bushbuck the leopard had killed in the early morning. He was there, a meter from his kill, deciding between fear and hunger. Finally, he crept forward and began to eat. Two shareholders and two guests watched in awe.

Along with the sounds of the leopard's feeding, we could hear the calls of the birds of the African night. The alarm calls of animals who caught the scent of the leopard as they passed nearby startled us. We could also hear laughter and music from the quarters of the anti poaching team only a few hundred meters away.

Earlier in the morning when one of our scouts had reported finding a fresh leopard kill, Petros had said, "We must make a plan. We will go there late this afternoon and we will wait very quietly in the Land Cruiser until after dark. If he is still hungry, and if we don't scare him, and most of all if we are lucky, we may see the leopard."

Petros has guided a former President of the United States and the current President of Botswana. When he makes a plan, it seldom fails.

We did wait, and wait some more, and Nkwe did come. For a thrilling twenty minutes or so we experienced the kind of African Magic we had hoped to find when we committed to the Limpopo-Lipadi Game Reserve project. We couldn't be happier with our decision.

Walt Tingle and Thea Holmes, Shareholders

Dr. RD Marks and Lisa De Groot, Guests