Careful not to disturb her, Martin keeps his distance, turning off the engine whenever she pauses, allowing us to simply observe. She sniffs at branches, inspects the land, rubs against trees, rolls in the sand and continues her morning routine.

The precious time spent with her is the most incredible experience. I feel as though I am walking in the footsteps of David Attenborough, almost hearing his voice narrating the moment: “Such beautiful movement is rarely seen. Dance in the animal world is little understood.”

We spend an unbelievable amount of time watching the leopard’s every movement – so much so that I almost start to relax into the moment, as though spending time with a leopard in the wild is a normal, natural thing. But it is almost time to head back to the lodge for breakfast. Martin asks if we can move on, as he wants to take us around the mountain on the return drive. We take one last feast for the eyes before heading towards the higher ground, completely unaware of what awaits us.

As we reach the viewing spot atop the mountain, we are all taken by surprise. There, enjoying the very view we had come to see, is the female’s cub. Uncollared and entirely unfazed, he appears as relaxed as anyone could hope for when encountering a leopard.

We were so unaware of him when we arrived that our car stopped right next to him, but he did not flinch. There he lies, locking eyes with me, then turning his head a few times, almost as if posing for my camera. A yawn, a wink, a pose… And then, leisurely, he gets up and moves a little closer. He sits down again, a hair’s breadth from the vehicle, and simply stays there, looking at me. It is as though he is talking to my soul, stirring something deep and spiritual that will linger within me for many moons to come.

Although only ten months old, this cub is already as big as his mother and destined to become a formidable leopard one day. For now, he is content to show off his flawless markings and curious nature. After inspecting us closely, he moves to the edge of the mountain, turns around, and flops down onto the red rocks, presenting the perfect photo opportunity.

Once he has had his fill of our attention, he gets up and begins making his way down the other side of the mountain. We follow him along the road, and park to watch him jump from rock to rock, stopping a few times to strike a few more stunning poses before disappearing from view. We are filled with a mix of adrenaline, reverence, excitement and awe as we head back to the lodge – as though we are returning to earth from some otherworldly experience. It was such a magical moment that, upon our arrival at camp, I immediately signed up to do it all again the next morning.

Before the next experience, I got the chance to speak to Karen Codling, the director of the AfriCat Foundation, about the research being conducted at Okonjima. She explains that their research focuses on understanding the long-term behaviours of the animals here. “We’re fortunate to have close access to species like leopards, which allows us to observe their social dynamics in unique ways. For example, we’re seeing that leopards interact with each other more than we originally thought, even sharing prey about a third of the time. We’ve also seen surprising familial behaviours, like male leopards continuing to interact with their grown sons,” she says.