Cheetah Chase

Family Herd enjoying a feed


From my diary continued Monday 14th October:

Getting Ready for the chase
 

I am all ready  with my jacket and gloves, the jeep roars into life and off we head deep into the bush.  We are on a mission to find cheetahs.  Thoughts of cheetahs were forgotten when we found a family of elephants deep in the bush.  The herd had toppled a young tree with a generous canopy of juicy leaves.  They pulled off the leaves and branches,  their trunks doing all the hard work.  The baby took off after its mother
and soon another tree was on the ground and the feeding continued.  It was amazing to witness.  A few times an elephant turned to look at us and our hearts were in our throats until they turned once again to their ongoing meal.  Lawrence found a small group of hyenas, who ducked down their burrow and disappeared but not before we captured them on camera.  We saw giraffes dining on the leaves high above in the branches, zebras grazing in herds, impala bounding along and then came the surprise.

snacking on green leaves
 

Lawrence signalled up ahead were two cheetahs, just sauntering down the track completely oblivious to us.  They quietly and elegantly strolled ahead of us, their minds on their dinner and not on us.  We followed them off the track into the bush and we were caught by surprise. Without time to grab the camera the two cheetahs raced off at high speed in different directions.  Then we realised why.  A single impala was their prize
The impala jumped and sped off leading them on a chase.  I had seen this on TV but never imagined I would witness it in the wild.  We held out breath, for we could no longer see them and did not know if they had their prize.  Lawrence pulled the jeep out and followed them and I must say I was happy they hadn't captured their prize, but of course they have to eat and it is only a matter of time before they do.  The light began to fade from behind the cloudy sky and we stopped for our afternoon drink and nibbles before heading back to camp.  We were all awe inspired after our jaw dropping experience.  We saw more giraffes and zebras with the aid of a spotlight held by Lawrence.  Our chatter over dinner centred on our cheetah surprise.  We can hardly wait for tomorrow.  My bed awaits me and I drift into a slumber of African animals and safari adventures.