LIVE UPDATE from our #BigCatPhotoSafari to Sabi Sand, South Africa.
By Specialist Photographic Guide Lance van de Vyver.
Yesterday afternoon we heard that a cheetah had been seen crossing into the east towards the end of the morning game drive cycle. We decided we would try to find the cheetah. Within 5 minutes of reaching the area it was last seen, we found it.
The cheetah was a young adult female and she immediately began to get active. She moved through the bush quickly but silently. We followed her as she went through multiple open areas and some very thick areas as well. She was thin and we could see she needed a meal. She even tried to hunt some impala but she failed.
Suddenly she turned and bolted behind us. We thought she had spotted or smelt danger nearby. We turned around and upon relocating her we found she had caught a male steenbok. It was still alive and kicking.
We sat quietly with her as she killed it and began to feed in earnest. A sad moment for the little antelope but a victory for the endangered cheetah. As the light faded, we left the cheetah so as not to alert anything by using spot lights. We stopped briefly and had a drink (after the sun had already set) before making our way home for dinner.
This morning we headed out and checked the south west corner of the property for any tracks. We found a large elephant bull and photographed him before heading north again.
Tingana had been seen but went into a vey thick block that was impenetrable by the vehicles. We decided not to waste time trying to find him. Moving on, we found three rhino together. Our guests were really happy, as they were hoping to see rhino on the trip. We spent 15 minutes with them, photographing them and the ox-peckers on their backs, before we moved off.
Driving along, we bumped into the Styx lion pride. There were over 10 individuals together and it was great to see another large lion pride in the area. This pride is still suffering from mange but are looking a lot better than a year ago.
After spending some time with the lions we headed to Twin Dams where we spent time chatting over some coffee and then heading back to camp for breakfast.
The weather has warmed up nicely today and we managed to see a lot of general game and some great raptor sightings as well.
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