The cheetah chase

This is a very special time of the year for me as things are starting to change all around us and we are starting to see the signs of summer setting in here at Singita Sabi Sand. We are finally starting to see rain falling and the trees and grass are starting to turn that beautiful emerald colour all around us. We get to see beautiful birds that have now returned from their winter migration and are now calling in chorus all around us, such as the woodland kingfisher and many more.

With all the above mentioned we are also starting to see a number of newborn animals at this time of the year and it’s always a pleasure to witness an animal taking its first few steps or seeing the nurseries of young impala around every corner. With that being said there are also a number of predators that become extremely opportunistic at this time of year.

I would like to share a recent sighting with all of you that I was lucky enough to witness, with a lovely family that were on their first safari in South Africa.

The guests had just travelled in from one of our other properties, Singita Lebombo in the Kruger National Park, and had a multitude of incredible sightings there - but one animal that was still high on their list was seeing a cheetah. Not only was seeing a cheetah high on their list of animals but they had expressed a huge amount of interest in seeing any sort of predator taking part in a successful hunt.

We set out in search of this incredible predator early one morning and the excitement was absolutely unmatched as we were lucky enough to spot exactly what we were looking for in the distance up ahead of us, after about an hour of searching. The individual that we managed to find was a female that we have become acquainted with over the last year here at Singita Sabi Sand, as she has been raising a litter of three cubs in the area and we have been spoilt with incredible sightings of them. There was no sign of the cubs but Louis, my trusty tracker, and I were absolutely sure they must have been hiding somewhere close by. We noticed instantly that she was stalking something up ahead of where she was. When we managed to get closer, we realised it was a lone blue wildebeest with a newborn calf that had separated from the others not too far away.

Within what felt like just one minute the chase was on and she darted in the direction of the wildebeest. With her speed she managed to catch up in just a few moments and brought down the wildebeest calf in the presence of awestruck guests sitting behind me in the safari vehicle.

She then dragged the carcass away from the now panicked other wildebeest that had all noticed the commotion, and dragged it towards a nearby area with some shade and cover from prying eyes. After this she proceeded to let out a few very high-pitched calls that were aimed in the direction of where she had left the cubs. Within about a minute we noticed the three cubs running in our direction at full speed to get to where their mother was with the meal.

After an absolutely incredible sighting we then left the mother cheetah and her now very excited cubs to enjoy their breakfast and we headed off in the direction of a shady spot to recount our sighting with some delicious coffee in hand.

All the guests were blown away by the speed and agility of the cheetah as she closed in on her target, definitely a sighting that will not be forgotten very soon. Dreams, high hopes and wishes do come true!