True stories about our leopard in the lobby

The impressive sculpture has been standing in Rhulani's entrance area for two months now. The leopard, which climbs down the tree in its typical, tense posture, as if it were about to pounce at any moment, fascinates all of our guests who enter Rhulani, grab a snack at high tea, or wait for their first safari early in the morning with a coffee cup in hand. The leopard made of stainless steel can not only count on overwhelming feedback, but also provides the first stories that make you smile.

The work of art itself is a unique masterpiece by the South African artist Michael Cañadas. In addition to the dramatic expression in the posture, which conveys the imminent attack, the viewer is impressed by the realistically reproduced facial expression, which the creator himself says he could not have consciously created, but that it simply came about like that. The slightly folded back ears, which convey the leopard's irritation, and then the fine, detailed formation around the open, hissing mouth, the tongue, the teeth, all of this contributes to the actual heart of the artwork. When you stand very close to the animal, it can be a little frightening.

Except of course for Rhulani's Head Ranger and Alaisdair, known as "Captain Redbeard", who tells us stories with his well-known witty manner that make us smile. Our careful cleaning plan for the statue, which stands outdoors and therefore allows birds to sit on it and even do their business, has not yet been implemented. Miraculously, we no longer have any birds in the lobby that disturb guests or steal food from the breakfast buffet. It seems that they have a lot of respect for our deceptively real leopard and prefer to keep quiet. In fact, the fear seems to be so great that even early in the morning, when nightguard Michael throws a few leftover bread crumbs on the ground, only a few birds dare to go near Rhulani.

For Alaisdair, the leopard's presence in the lobby is also a welcome start to a successful safari and to make in introduction about this rather shy big cat in the Madikwe Reserve. Guests are advised to stroke the leopard's nose three times before setting off, which significantly increases the likelihood of actually seeing a leopard on the game drive. Is that nonsense? Hardly. The number of leopard sightings has increased noticeably in the last two months, and even our new ranger Theo followed this advice and - believe it or not - found two leopards on the very first drive.

We are excited to see what other stories our leopard in the lobby will tell!