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Published: April 19th 2007
Cheetah sighting
...up to this point, definitely the highlight of our trip Still haven't seen: Leopard, Rhino, Cheetah
We left Satara rest camp at about 7:45am (a little later than I had hoped, but it paid off) and started our drive to Talamati Bushveld camp where we would be spending the night. Bushveld camps are basically a lot smaller than main rest camps--no shops nor restaurants--and much more remote, emphasizing the true African bush experience. Before I digress too much, let me go back to that morning leaving the camp and what has been one of the highlights of our trip (although Pops claims that he is the highlight of the trip).
30 minutes after leaving Satara's gate, Pops miraculously spotted a large cat and tels Erin to stop and back up. Sure enough, after backing up a little, we realized Pops' eyes hadn't failed him--there was a cheetah up on an old fallen tree, and what was he doing...taking a deuce. I guess he didn't want to risk getting his tail dirty--makes sense. He (or she, as Pops claimed, by the way she "sprayed") jumped down into the tall grass and disappeared. We waited a few minutes and out walks the cheetah right in front of our car on
Good neighbors
...drying our clothes at Satara the road. We followed him for a ways, until he turned and walked back into the grass.
Our South African guide from our bicycle ride two days before told us that our chances at seeing a cheetah in the park were very slim, as they only number just over 100 and are declining, compared to the 1,000 leopards and 2,000 lions in the park. We all felt very lucky and fortunate to see one.
We didn't see anything new the rest of the day on our drive to Talamati. After a dinner of bread, cheese, and wine, we retired early for the night amongst the sounds of the jungle, only feet from our windows.
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