Cheetahs are, due to their natural (and this is sad) rarity, already considered the top of the cream when it comes to safari sightings. Cheetahs are, amongst cats, pretty much at the bottom of the pyramid, so they tend to get pushed out if there are too many large and competing cats, especially lions, sharing their habitat. The balance seems to be right on our reserve, because here they seem to be doing extremely well, and that is cause for celebration. In particular, there are are two brother cheetahs that we see 2-3 times/week, on average, and they are extremely relaxed near humans as they have been exposed to our presence so much over the years.
In any case, we now walk with the cheetahs, which is a supremely unique experience, and I am not aware of any other reserve offering this, for wild cheetahs that is. This is the sort of stuff that you won’t even see on TV. So if you love beautiful cats, then this is the place visit.
Here some shots, taken 2 days ago, of them being observed by our guests, in one of the many dry riverbeds. They love hanging out there, resting from their hunting. Cheetahs are, and this is well-known, the fastest hunters on earth, running top speeds of over 100km/h, pushing the thinkable, and imaginabe, to the very limits. Their muscles are all about explosive power (think fast-twitch muscles only), and so that comes at the expense of stamina, and they also need lots of recovery time.
