This Campfire Tale called “The Sundowner” first appeared in a Dispatch, the updates sent to all Society members. You can join for free here.

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These are the stories most often told around a campfire, with a drink in hand and nature as a soundtrack. The tales are all true, but often with some artistic liberty. Names have been changed for deniability.

The sundowner is a great African tradition. As the sun begins to fade and the dust in the air helps creates a rich kaleidoscope of colours in the sky, you pause your safari and find a nice quiet spot to watch the day end. It’s here, over a drink and some snacks, that you toast to the remarkable day and appreciate how lucky you are.

Yet, it’s not without its challenges. The part that first-timers struggle with the most is the “getting out of the vehicle” part. You have spent hours driving around the African wild, the close encounters made possible by the reassurances you are safe inside the car. The subtext is that the African bush can be dangerous, but in the car, you are safe from danger. And yet, for a sundowner, you jump out of that car and stand around in the bush, drink (or drinks) in hand. It all seems a little weird at first. The author’s sister, for example, thought it was a joke on her first night on safari. Once she was convinced to leave the vehicle, she spent the whole time with a hand on the vehicle, just in case she needed to make a speedy getaway.

When choosing a sundowner spot you need some clear sight lines around the vehicle. Ideally, you don’t want to stop in the middle of some long grass or on the water’s edge where you can’t see anything coming. But, the most important thing that makes a place ‘safe’ to stop is the presence of humans. It’s for this reason there can be a picnic spot in the middle of the Serengeti, with zero difference from the rest of the surrounding plains. Or the lunch spot in Ngorongoro Crater, right near the hippo pond. The simple math is “Humans go there, so the animals don’t”. If we are there, and there in numbers, then animals will go out of their way to avoid us. Well, usually. There was that one time in Zimbabwe when a grumpy elephant going for an evening stroll found guests in his path. He trumpeted and carried on as you do when you hit a certain age and things aren’t what they used to be. Refusing to deviate from his path, the guests defused the situation by carrying the fully loaded drinks table twenty metres to the right. Satisfied with this amendment, the elephant went on his way, his path re-established.

The reality is that these sundowners are a very safe thing to do. African animals aren’t out to get us. They aren’t following the vehicle, just waiting for a gin-sipping tourist to jump out. That doesn’t mean it all goes perfectly. There are ‘encounters’, like the time a group of safari-goers finished their drinks and, upon getting back in the vehicle, immediately came across a pride of lions strolling down the road towards them. But, for the most part, the quick reconnaissance done when pulling into a sundowner spot is more than enough to spot any elephant, lion or buffalo hiding in the scrub.

That does, however, leave one notable exception: the leopard.

Leopards are masters of camouflage. We always think that leopards almost have two states of being: invisible and diva. You might see them strolling casually down the road, without a care in the world, or in plain sight up a tree. They aren’t making any effort to hide. And yet, as anyone who has tracked a leopard in the bush can attest when they want to hide they simply disappear.

This invisibility issue was one facing a recent explorer of ours in South Africa.

Travelling with her partner, a first-time traveller to Africa, they had spent their afternoon searching for a female leopard named Sawaeti. On their third day, they spent their whole afternoon in search of her, looking at all her familiar haunts and scanning every tree they came across. At sunset, they began to think their chances of a sighting were fading. And so, they consoled themselves with a sundowner drink and vowed to resume the search tomorrow.

Our explorer then decided to grab her camera from the vehicle to capture the sunset. Heading away from the group, she walked towards the back seat of the vehicle but caught a glimpse of something in the bushes, less than 20 metres away. She stopped and peered in the dusky light. Was she imagining things? Had the wine gone to her head? After a few more seconds she realised her eyes weren’t deceiving her. Walking back to the guides, she quietly told them what she had seen. They assured her that it probably wasn’t the case but offered to check with her. After a few seconds of staring, the guide walked back to the guests and calmly asked them to get back in the vehicle.

That thing in the dark, less than 20 metres from the vehicle, was Sawaeti, the leopard they had been searching for. Whilst they had been enjoying their drinks and stories she had been relaxing in the bushes, enjoying the human show.

They weren’t in any immediate danger, as she clearly felt comfortable enough to be relaxing in plain sight. If she wasn’t comfortable or had felt threatened, she would have disappeared as soon as they arrived. But, still. The absence of any real danger doesn’t remove the feeling of danger. It’s the entire reason roller coasters exist.

Another recent story comes from Botswana, in the heart of the Okavango Delta, in a very well-known luxury lodge. In this case, the trainee guide had had some mechanical issues with the staff Land Rover and was in a rush to set up a bush lunch prior to the guests’ arrival. This particular lunch location was a lovely clump of trees next to an open field. As he had been trained, he did his full lap of the location as he arrived, looking for any animals in the bushes. Finding nothing, he jumped out and set up the table, laid the tablecloth, set up the bush toilet and stocked the bar. And just in the nick of time it appears, for it was only minutes later the guests arrived. Although wary of the grassy field nearby, they made their way to the table and heartily tucked into a full meal service, complete with wine and a fresh dessert. Spirits were high and the conversation was lively. Full satiated, they jumped back into the car and headed back to the lodge for a siesta. Packing up the lunch by himself, he was pleased when another guide arrived to help. However, this guide approached from the opposite direction, coming from behind the trees instead of from the road as he and the others did. Pulling his car up, he paused and then calmly called the trainee over. It was then that the guide told him to look up.

And it’s there he saw, almost directly above the table, a leopard lying peacefully on a tree limb. It had been relaxing there the entire time.

The trainee decided to pack up the table later on.

So, next time you find yourself in Africa and you are having a sundowner, enjoy the spectacle of nature as the sun sets and the sky bursts with colour. Be comforted by the fact that you are safe. Relax and appreciate the fortune of being in the place and time.

But, when you are sitting by the bar later on with the guides, ask them about their sundowner stories. In every lodge, every guide, and every country, there is always a great story to be told.