August 20: 3rd Day – AM Drive (4th game drive)

Cheetah, originally uploaded by Andrew & Yvette's world travel.

Ashleigh begins the day by asking us what we would like to see today. We scream, “CATS!” Our choice though is narrowed to tracking down leopards as the lions have left the property = ( We ask about tracking down cheetahs but these beautiful creatures are sadly endangered in Kruger; there are only 80-90 left in a park that is the size of the UK. Apparently, they are losing to the healthy lion and leopard population in Kruger.

And so we are off to look for leopards. Our chances are looking good as 30 minutes into the hunt, the Lodge raises an alarm. They have had a leopard sighting. We move closer to the Lodge and soon come upon 2 other LR also looking for leopards. Minutes later, Dollom catches leopard tracks on the ground. Ashleigh parks the LR and grabbing her rifle, steps out of the vehicle w/ Dollom. They will track the leopard on foot. They come back minutes later with glum faces. The leopard is within a specific enclosure but has camouflaged itself too well. The other rangers and trackers have not been able to spot it either. We are all defeated. We ask about last night’s spot but Ash replies that those leopards have left. However, all signs point to another successful hunt by the mum.

We then leave the area and drive around spotting more antelopes along the way: nyalas, bushbacks, kudus, duikers, waterbucks. Cute as they are, we are all a bit glum. Then Ashleigh gets a call on her cv radio. After the coded conversation, she turns to us and asks us are we ready for a drive? Our hopes shoot up. She tells us to strap in. We’re a long way off from a very special sighting and she needs to slash a 30 minute drive into 15. We give a ‘Hurray’ and off we go. Along the way, she tells us all to dare to dream. Immediately, Chrissie and Andrew scream for a cheetah sighting while I yell for a baby baby leopard and baby baby lion sighting. After hearing our bursts of excited responses, she smiled a mysterious, excited smile. And then she gave the annoying ranger line, “I can’t guarantee it’ll still be there when we arrive.” *GrRrRrR* After a tortuous drive in which we kept pleading with Ashleigh to go faster, we finally made it to the sight. We train our eyes on the landscape and soon spot something moving. That something moving is a cheetah. I am in tears. ‘Dare to dream.’ Who dares dream to spot a cheetah in the wild???

The cheetah is soon moving and we are thankful we’ve spotted him in a nice open landscape. We track him and soon he comes upon a tree. Andrew whispers, “Please climb the tree, please climb the tree”. The cheetah listens and climbs up. He looks around and then sits down majestically. All the while, his head is turning this way and that. A few seconds later, perhaps finding that all is well, he lies down. After a couple of seconds, we notice his head his still looking this way and that and we get the feeling he is still at a state of unease. Sure enough, he gets up soon thereafter and steps down the tree. He walks away and we’re glad he pursues a path that allows us to continue to follow him. He weaves in and out of dry grass and as he does so we note the grace of his walk and the strength of his shoulders. Soon, he comes upon a watering hole and with a collective thought, we will it to drink water. Though he doesn’t drink, he does pick a spot and settles in. Despite the long grass that could have camouflaged his presence, we are once again close enough to the cheetah not to need any binoculars. It’s amazing to be less than 10 feet away from such a wild creature and not have any barriers of glass nor fence. Soon he is up and walking again. He comes upon another tree and we watch as he investigates and decides what action to take. He decides against the climb and next comes upon a shaded mound. Once again, he looks over his surroundings. This is not the spot either and we leave the area with him. Finally, he comes upon another mound with some tree cover and it is here that he finally rests. But it is not a relaxed rest. He is skittish, constantly looking around, as if he is expecting an attack of sorts.

I believe we were able to be with the cheetah for an hour and long as that sounds, it still wasn’t enough time. However, with such a rare and precious sighting, we must give up our turn and allow another LR to take our place. That’s one of the great things about being in a private reserve. There are never more than 3 LR at any sighting so the moment doesn’t get spoiled. Anyhow, as we head back, we notice Ashleigh’s camera and humongous lens. She too had joined in punctuating the quiet morning air with bursts of camera clicks. With this sighting, we are truly having the dream safari experience as there hasn’t been a cheetah sighting at Sabi Sands in the past 8 months.

As we head back, Ashleigh also tells us the story of this particular cheetah. The reason it was so skittish and vigilant was it had just gotten in a fight with the mama leopard from the previous night. The cheetah, having been drawn to the smell of the fresh kill, had wandered to the leopards territory. A fight ensued wherein the cheetah lost and was forced to flee. That was why she was constantly looking around, specially towards the direction she had come from. She was afraid of another attack by the leopard. It was a good thing a LR had decided to check out last night’s leopard sighting. If not, they wouldn’t have heard the fight and seen the cheetah running away.

At this point, it is also time to say goodbye to our 3 British friends. They are moving to the fabulous Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge. We’ll surely miss them, especially Chrissie, who entertained us with her non stop banter. Tonight, we will have new people join us in the LR.