You can see the excitement on Ranger William's face as he shines the yellow light of the spotlight into the bushes and spots something that is anything but an everyday occurrence, not even for him, who drives Rhulani's guests around the reserve day and night. It is as quiet as a mouse on the vehicle, because you don't want to scare away this shy animal, which looks like a slightly oversized house cat, but different, with slightly longer, pointed ears. You just want to enjoy what seems to be a special moment in total darkness.
The cat even comes out afterwards, shows itself, crosses the road, right in front of the vehicle, and the headlights accompany the animal on the way. It is absolutely perfectly visible before it disappears again somewhere in the bushes on the other side of the road.
Willem takes a deep breath, stands up and turns to the guests: «Ladies and gentlemen, that was even better than a leopard for me. What we just saw is a so-called "caracal", a very shy and nocturnal cat, of which there are known to be some in the Madikwe Game Reserve, but you almost never see them."
Willem also knows that it was a male caracal, and a relatively large one at that. "In my whole life I have only had three, maybe four such sightings," he says. What just happened was truly special.
The caracal is a medium-sized wildcat that is often referred to as the desert lynx These cats have slender bodies and long legs. They are the largest of the African small cats. The fur is short and dense and is tawny-brown to reddish tan colour with whitish underparts. Their face is marked with dark lines and white spots around their eyes. The backs of their ears are black with long tufts at the top. The caracal can reach speeds of up to 80kph when in full flight, and it has outstanding agility and can leap up to four meters in the air to catch a prey.
A beautiful experience at the end of the day for the guests, who are sitting on the vehicle for 3 hours, enjoying a beautiful sunset, and now are on the way back to the lodge where dinner is ready. Proof that the African bush changes completely when darkness falls and you can discover something new at any time.
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