[Kate] A Surprise Encounter

By the fourth day of our safari experience (and last full day), by had seen a large chunk of what there was to see.  We had seen leopards (seven different ones at different times, including two little cubs), lions (although they were mostly sleeping), giraffes (Grace's favorite), warthogs (Cannon's favorite), elephants, and more of the main attractions.

On the game drive on the eve before our departure, we started off looking at the usual stuff (various kinds of antelopes and birds), but then, at the edge of the river, we saw a male lion standing up.  We went and investigated, and saw two male lions and a female, but they were all lying down at that point.  After a short stop we set off again and ran into a big group of giraffes.  We got really close, and even at one point got out of the vehicle to approach a little bit nearer.   When we did finish with them, we started driving farther than we ever had before, and Jason (our guide) didn't tell us where we where going.

This isn't that unusual.  Guides often don't tell visitors what animals they're going to in order to avoid disappointment if they can't find the animal after all.  By this time the sun was lowered in the sky, but it was still white bright, although light was sure to start dropping soon.

We emerged from the trees and shrubbery where we usually searched and made our way out to great sprawling plains, with only the occasional plant besides grass.  Even though we saw a lot of animals, including a large group of elephants drinking water, we didn't stop.  Jason told us that the animal we were after was very light dependent.

A little while later, he told us the animal was diurnal, meaning it was active during the day.  The only two diurnal hunters we could think of were wild dogs and cheetahs.  Jason informed us that we were going to see the latter.

This was quite unusual.  Cheetahs are endangered animals, and therefore rare.  We were told that the odds of us seeing one was very low.  My parents, who had been on a eight day safari years ago, had never seen one in the wild.

Most of the reserve was trees and shrubbery, something cheetahs dislike.  They like wide open plains, so they can easily run at their top sped without a lot of obstacles.  So it made sense that we had come to this little corner of the reserve (the reserve was the area of land that we were allowed to drive around on).

After a few more minutes of fast driving, some parked jeeps came into views.  A few second later we saw what they were looking at.  A cheetah was perched on top of a dead log, looking out over the plains.

It was a really beautiful and dangerous looking animal, with the black markings on its face, its lean legs, and of course it's famous spots.

This is the cheetah on top of the log.

This is a closer look at the cheetah's face.

We stayed with the cat for a while, even after it left the log.  It walked through the tall grass, and sometimes we (that is to say, I) had trouble finding it.  After a couple of minutes, the cheetah escaped us by walking out of the reserve's boundaries (marked by a road).  We watched it walk away from us and into more grass.

Seeing the cheetah was a great experience, especially since we had had been told seeing one was unlikely.  It was one of my favorite moment of the whole safari.