Good day to all our Leopard’s Tale readers!
Wild Diary
Twenty years ago, our family realised a dream of owning and running a Game Lodge! With no experience in hospitality at all and only a passion to make our guests as happy as possible, we embarked on a journey. The lodge was built personally by the family with stone and materials sourced locally and with community members that had to be taught how to do the building work.
We threw the architects drawings out on day one, because we weren’t prepared to damage any of the sensitive plants that dot the lodge grounds. We did the plumbing ourselves and to everyone’s amusement, including the plumber we then hired, we ended up somehow with hot water coming out the toilets.
It was hot hard work, trying to use rocks and logs that don’t easily conform to straight building lines and levels but after 9 months we delivered Leopard Mountain Safari lodge onto the tourism market. The first few weeks were spent learning how to make beds the right way, how to cook multiple meals and keep them hot, we had no chef and no staff other than 2 cleaners. Family members took shifts at being barman/chef/ranger/receptionist/housekeeping. I can’t help but smile, at how naïve we were in thinking that we could do it alone and without professionals. So many funny moments like having to cope with our first request for a vegan meal or having to change a tyre while guests looked on with amusement.
Just when we thought we had mastered it, the lodge burnt down and the whole family had a hard decision to make rebuild or give up. When the tears had finally dried, we pulled up our socks and with hard earned experience did it all again, even better! The decision was then made that we would never be satisfied with second best in anything we did at Leopard Mountain. The guest’s experience always had to exceed the amount paid for it. We took the trust each and every guest placed in us to make their safari experience an exceptional one, seriously!
This month we celebrate 20 years of growth, multiple awards and being rated top 4 star game lodge in South Africa. It has taken 20 years of hard work from a dedicated team of 40 incredible professional staff that are passionate about what they do and embrace the family ethos that Leopard Mountain has. We thank 20 years of amazing guests that have visited Leopard Mountain time and time again, who appreciate what makes our piece of heaven so special. To all these people we promise to make the next 20 years as exciting and something to look forward to!
Sightings for the Month
To keep you abreast with our latest and greatest sightings we have decided to give you a monthly catch-up of what has been happening at Leopard Mountain! Check out our Facebook page to see these amazing sightings!
- Puff Adder sighting on game drive
- Male Leopard contact calling repeatedly, which we were able to follow it’s progress by help of Impala snorting and kudu barking.
- Large Cobra sighting
- Pride of six Lions
- Bird Sightings – Blue Mantles Crested Flycatcher, African Broadbill, Striped Pipit , Crowned Eagle, Pink Throated Twinspot
Till we chat again next month
