A Sabi Sabi Sunrise
written by: John Drudge
We set out with the sun into the bush, with everything stirring and looking for something to eat. A herd of kudu and a solo wildebeest grazed as the light broke the early morning clouds and settled into the big African sky. Two giraffes off in the distance lumbered along the tree line, and as a traffic jam of zebras blocked the road, we waited in a clearing of short brush and wild basil just off the trail, with two large rhinos snoozing nearby in the soft sand, lightly snoring and grunting at our presence. And just as the road cleared, a group of hyenas zig-zagged loudly across the waking landscape, so we followed them past a thicket into a small cluster of trees off the tall grass of the savanna, and as we rounded a corner, the leopard was high in a tree, half asleep but alert, hearing us coming long before we saw her, with her cub of about four months sprawled on a branch above, seemingly having a hard time settling on a full stomach, swatting at a twig and chewing on leaves. Mom kept one eye open, her gaze alternating between the cub and the jeep, as the remainder of a mid-sized impala hung high up in a tree above us, dripping blood onto the ground below, with the hyenas circling, laughing and yipping and taunting each other, hoping something might drop to the ground; and after a time, taking in the singular beauty of this scene, we headed out again across the grasslands toward a herd of elephants off in the distance.
- A Sabi Sabi Sunrise - May 15, 2026
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- The Poet - September 27, 2025
