“This way for the leopard!” hollered our driver in Kenya’s vast Masai Mara, gunning the engine.

I was not holding my breath.

We had spent the good part of a week hoping to catch a glimpse of a leopard: a skittish, nocturnal creature notorious for being the hardest animal to spot on safari.

Our jeep had given us a wondrous view of animals I had only seen in photos, cartoons, and toy stores: rhinos, elephants, giraffes whose heads rose into the sky, fluffy baby zebras trotting next to their parents, and lion cubs scampering like house cats.

But that sneaky leopard continued to elude us – sometimes by a few maddening minutes. We’d follow a report of baboons chasing a leopard, but our jeep couldn’t catch up. Or we’d hear excited Swahili crackling over the radio and hightail it to a tree where a leopard had been lounging. Or so we heard.

Welcome to the wild, where predictability can be as evasive as a leopard. One guide told us about a woman who pleaded with him to find a giraffe, her favorite animal. They did encounter a giraffe – being eaten by 10 lions.

During another drive, our jeep pulled up seconds after two lions had killed a wildebeest. Our driver felt terrible that we had missed a lion kill – a safari holy grail! – while part of me barely wanted to see the aftermath.

Here’s what I did see on safari: a wider cycle of life that included the inevitable step of death. Animals brought life into the world and fought to protect it. One animal escaping a chase might mean its pursuer starved. Leopards prowled when the moon rose and faded into the bushes in sunlight.

Ah, except for a few minutes on that crisp morning, when we learned that extraordinary sights can be witnessed by those who are patient with nature – and willing to shut up.

After all, leopards hate noise.

The leopard that roared into our view was fully enraged, staring down a pack of hyenas threatening its freshly killed breakfast. Its spotted tail flickered, its gorgeous fur rippled. Its magnetic presence seemed to bring the wilderness to a halt.

Yet this time, the leopard was brought to a halt by the more persistent hyenas. After a standoff, the majestic leopard abandoned its kill, leapt off the tree and stalked into the brush. Just another day in the wild.