Photograph © Tim Smith
First morning back i was lucky to join the AM Cheetah Walk with ranger G.P Britz. We headed out towards the last known location of the “Leopard Pen Boys“ four male Cheetahs and with the change in the daylight saving time we used a spotlight for the first 15 minutes of drive. We found a relaxed Brown Hyena just outside the lodge and this seemed to be a good omen for the rest of the trip..
The sun only letting out rays at 7.10am we reached the entrance to the Vlei and picked up good signal for the Cheetahs. As we headed out slowly walking along game trails towards the open floodplain of the Vlei we noticed Springboks running and pronking. Not too long after we had our first sight of the coalition of males looking right across the plains towards the whistling antelopes.
We followed them right in the open across Vlei as game watched both the cats and some weird two legged animals behind them.
Finally stopping at the waterhole for a drink we had such a special intimate sighting of the boys sitting directly opposite them.
Great morning to sum it up and topped off with Amarula coffee! Good to be back.