The story behind Bokki, an impala in South Africa

THE Traveler: Christy Quade of Hutchinson, Minn.

The scene: An impala visits at Hellspoort Valley farm, a private reserve in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

about the Impala: The impala, nicknamed Bokki, was orphaned at an early age. The owners of Hellspoort bottle-fed her until she was old enough to be released. Bokki would occasionally visit by coming to the fence gate of the reserve, but she was never able to join an established impala herd. One of her visits coincided with Quade's — and the two bonded. The owners surmised it was because Quade's hair was the color of Bokki's. "Every day, at least twice a day, I would enter the reserve through the gate and she would be waiting for me," Quade wrote. "We walked miles through the reserve and she would follow me everywhere. If I stopped too long (taking pictures) she would nibble at my jacket until I moved on. She would rub her forehead on my jacket, and I was told by the owners that she was scent-marking me as part of her herd. When I would go back into the lodge, she would run back and forth along the fence, trying to see me. The owners said they had never seen her do anything like this before." The owners had purchased a male and six female impalas to create a herd for Bokki; they would arrive in a few days after Quade had departed.

The equipment: Nikon D3200 camera with a Tamron 18-270mm lens.