Hard work pays off

One morning we decided to go and look for a mother cheetah and her three youngsters. We had spent almost an hour looking for any signs of them but there were no tracks to find. We only had one more road to check as we were driving one of the big clearings. From far away we could see five giraffes and zebras all looking in the same direction. Very suspicious…

So, my friend, Peter Ubisi, the tracker, stops me saying, “Please check under the tree behind the bush to the right side.” When I used my binoculars, there they were! The mother got up and started walking. The three cubs also got up and climbed the trees – an unusual behaviour for cheetahs. As I was positioning my vehicle, I pulled my camera out and one of the cubs jumped down as I took a photo! I’ve been waiting and hoping for this type of photo for so long!

The other cubs jumped down to follow their mother hunting through the grasslands. We spent almost two hours with them after she killed a female steenbok. Vultures didn’t take long to arrive at the scene. The mother let her cubs feed, and as soon she saw one or two vultures up above, she didn’t waste time, and they all began to eat. A few minutes later more than 50 vultures were circling.

My guests could not believe what they saw - a cheetah makes a kill in front of them, plus the cubs going up a tree. It was a highlight for everyone, even old-timers like Peter and me!