Going on holiday is often a tradition for many families around the easter and festive period, but for one Cape Town couple, their ultimate getaway quickly turned into a living nightmare.
This comes after retired South African Airways (SAA) pilot Gavin Allderman and his partner Jill Sheard decided to treat themselves to a seven-day outdoor camp in Mabuasehube Game Reserve in Botswana earlier this month.
In conversation with news publication The Witness, Gavin explained that he was familiar with the area and had been visiting the place for more than four decades – however, nothing could prepare him for a face to face with a hungry leopard.
Speaking about the experience, the 67-year-old said that he and Jill had just finished showering and took some time to relax by reading a book.
At the time, he admits to seeing a wild animal in the distance, but because of the dark, he assumed that it was a cheetah and proceeded to enter the tent on top of his bakkie and fell asleep.
“At about 01:30 I jerked awake having heard movement on the ladder. Sitting bolt upright, instantly wide awake, I peered down the ladder and saw the animal climbing up.
“I shouted ‘he’s coming up the ladder!’ Screaming and swearing was no deterrent as he scrambled up and launched himself onto the gauze of the tent, his claws gripping the thin fabric with his head inches from my face.”
In a Facebook post, Gavin explained that his only means of survival meant that he would ultimately have to rely on his bare fists to fight off the wild animal.
“Every now and again the animal pulled its head back in a terrifying gesture as if to attack and bite through the gauze. At these moments I concentrated on punching his claws,” he explained.
“I became aware that there was blood spattering in copious amounts, but just carried on punching and shouting, adrenaline coursing through my body in this fight for life.”
After persistent punching, his fists were covered in blood. He later managed to find a way to escape to the other side of the tent and slip into the bakkie while the leopard was still roaming down the vehicle.
Eventually the couple drove 3kms to a nearby campsite where they received medical care.
Meanwhile, Gavin says that despite visiting the area annually, this experience has taught him never to let his guard down.
“One must accept that visiting the wild is a highly risky activity. I have been going to Mabua for 43 years, almost every year and sometimes two or three times a year, so regard myself as reasonably experienced.
“I have always carried an axe and a diver’s knife into the tent with me, but the recent acquisition of a rooftop tent has made me feel safer, so I have let this practice slip. Big mistake!”
