Cal recently ticked off a bucket list item, visiting Liuwa Plains National Park in Zambia. As he is a passionate conservationist, visiting this magnificent landscape had always been one of his dreams. Tracking cheetah with the Zambia Carnivore Programme in amongst Africa’s second-largest wildebeest migration was a particular highlight, as were the incredibly dramatic skies that dominated the landscape.

“This is always such a tough one to answer – pick an animal! One experience that will always spring to mind was when I had three of my best friends come visit me in South Africa from the UK. I picked them up from the airport in Joburg and we headed straight for the Kruger Park. Driving in through Malelane Gate, we had quite a way to go to reach Satara Rest Camp. Always the best sightings are when you are racing to get back for gate closing time, and this day was no different. As the sun began setting, 10km north of Tshokwane picnic site we found a porcupine walking along the road – already a very special sighting. Then I saw some spots in the grass and knew we were in store for something special. For the next hour and a half, we watched this male leopard try and fail to catch this porcupine many times. He sat next to the car pulling quills out of his paws and looked like he was about to give up. However, he pulled the last quill out and got going again before eventually capturing his prickly prey. This amazing ordeal was over, or so we thought… in my wing mirror I saw a spotted hyena approaching. The leopard realised just in time, managing to haul his meal up a nearby shepherd’s tree, just avoiding the jaws of this jumping hyena. It was so special – and safe to say, my friends were blown away!”