This just in from the Londolozi Game Reserve in Sabi Sand, South Africa, about the beloved female leopard whom many of us here at Savvy Navigator observed, loved and respected over the years:

It’s another typical July winters day. The halcyon blue and honey hued bushveld is treading its way to the wind and dust of august and another season – something new. The bizarre and the surreal is something you get used to around here, like the changing of the seasons. But in this particular run-of-the-mill July week, two quite dramatic events are unfolding. The first, not ten kilometres from the lodge a friend lies dying. If you have passed through Londolozi in the last 17 years you will probably have met her. If you lingered to work and share the dream you will probably have befriended her. If you were a ranger or tracker you will probably have come to love her. I am talking, of course, of the 3:4 female.

Her life story is told somewhere else - in fact in many places. So I am not going to rehash her remarkable life for you here. Rather, I would like to comment on the alluring effect she has on so many. As I write this, she has not yet passed to wherever good mother leopards go. And over the past two years she always seemed on death’s door, but this time her back legs can no longer bear her weight, she cannot climb trees and to follow her piece of shade, she has to crawl around using her front legs. Skeletally thin, with sunken eyes she waits, probably for a hyena, to close the chapter on what for a leopard is probably an ordinary tale. So many of the staff at Londolozi have gone to say their last goodbye to a leopard who was able to bridge the gap between man and wild animal. That is no ordinary tale.

She has shared her 17 years with us, her trials and tribulations of motherhood, her constant battles with other predators and her successes and failures on hunts. She has posed for photographers and at times frustrated our best efforts to find her. Truthfully, how do you bid farewell to such an awe inspiring animal. Do you watch her last breath or just let the end become another of those wonderful bushveld mysteries?

I’m not sure what the answer is, but the second dramatic event is the respect that is being accorded her in a very Shangane fashion. Rangers and trackers are all wearing small black ribbons attached to their shirt sleeves with safety pins, in memory of her. This is normally reserved for important members of the Shangane community. To say that she has had a pronounced effect on those that have known her is a profound understatement, just like the one Elmon uttered a few weeks ago while watching her in good health “this one is a good leopard."

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We've been on the road for nearly a week, and Savvy Navigator has been terrible about blogging about this amazing gay tour we're on right now. Over the next few days, however, I'll be posting some highlights of the journey. We've quite simply been SO busy that there has been little time for me to sit down and document our experiences.

So, for now, here's a quick little video of our trip yesterday up to the Cape Point lighthouse, down at the Cape of Good Hope (the southwestern-most point in Africa).

As you can see, we put the "fun" in funicular!

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There are numerous reasons why Savvy Navigator brings his gay tours to Londolozi’s Tree Camp in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve, next to Kruger National Park in South Africa. Whether it’s the unsurpassed luxury of the accommodations, the gourmet food and wine offerings, the unparalleled game viewing, or the commitment to the environment and the local economic growth, the one thing that stands out is quality of the game rangers (who, incidentally, were able to guide Savvy Navigator to see his first leopard kill). These professionals do their best to ensure that Savvy Navigator guests have the optimal gay safari experience.

Here are recent photos of the Londolozi team from the lodge’s Valentine Day greeting, complete with a healthy dose of pulchritude — something Savvy Navigator and his guests always appreciate! 

First of all, NO jokes about taking gay tours to prisons, OK?

As most readers already know, Savvy Navigator is fiercely committed to bringing new and different gay travel experiences to his friends and clients. With gay tours to South Africa planned for May and November of this year, the Savvy Navigator itinerary includes off-the-beaten-path experiences that no other gay tour operator offers.

One of the best options for a free day in Cape Town is excursion to the Pollsmoor Prison Mess - a full-service restaurant inside a national prison. Just outside the city, down the cape, the prison is home to South Africa’s most hardened criminals. While not usually a destination on too many gay tour itineraries, the Pollsmoor Mess is an innovative rehabilitation program for non-violent inmates that offers a first-rate dining experience to the public. The dining room is run as a full-service restaurant, with prisoners working as chefs, waiters and other support staff. With experience gained in prison in this working restaurant, the prisoner develops vocational skills that, upon release, allow him/her to seek gainful employment in the fast-growing South African tourism sector.

When Savvy Navigator last dined at the prison, he enjoyed a lunch date with an adored nephew, who never in his life had experienced such a meal. The staff was friendly and competent and the waiter was actually pretty cute. While it’s not cool to inquire about the reasons for incarceration, interaction with the staff is easy and fun. The steak frites lunch was very well prepared and as good as any meal in the suburbs of Cape Town. The dining duo was even allowed to purchase wine and beer to go along with the meal. After the meal, tips for the individual staff were placed in locked boxes, and the funds are available to the prisoner upon release.

The bottom line here is that this dining room is not to be missed, and is a must-do item to include on any Cape Town itinerary. If you’d like more information, there’s also a terrific Washington Post article from a few years ago.

Any readers ever been to prison, here?

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After breaking his ankle while scoping out gay safari possibilities in Botswana, Savvy Navigator got very, very lucky. He arrived home with a full-on fracture, yet did receive North American medical care and a cast on his leg until 5 days after the break. Luckily, SN did not have to deal with third-world hospitals, and probably was saved due to the high uppers on his hiking boots, which provided amazing support to the bad ankle while transiting numerous airports on the flights home.

While recuperating in January, his dear friend and stalwart traveler, Anny Hanny, found this terrific article in a recent New York Times Practical Traveler column. It’s the most compelling reason SN has read to date on the importance of purchasing comprehensive trip insurance. Click here to learn more about this important topic and read the NYT article.