CHEETAHS!

Prior to this trip I had probably seen about 30 cheetahs in the wild in my life, and most of them were poor to average sightings (lying in a bush, viewing from a distance, etc.). That's what made Sunday Feb 24th extra amazing. In addition to seeing the migration again, and 5 more lions, I saw 12 different cheetahs at three separate sightings. The Serengeti is known for it's great cheetah population but seeing 12 in one game drive is just ridiculous.

The first sighting (3 cheetahs) was pretty pedestrian, they were just lying in the shade and there were many vehicles around. The next two, though, were the kind of experiences you never forget...

Second sighting (4 cheetahs - mother & 3 cubs, approx 10 months old):
This was incredible because we were the only vehicle with this group. We found them while driving aimlessly at around 1pm (the heat of the day) when most people were taking lunch or back at camp. We sat in the shade with them for about 45 minutes with no other vehicles and were only about 5 feet away.
It's widely believed that leopards are the only cats that climb trees - NOT TRUE! Lions and cheetahs on occasion can & do climb trees (they are not nearly as agile as leopards though).
We watched the cubs play in the shade and saw the following:

A nice big yawn from mom:

One of the cubs climb up the tree:

The cub stop his brother from climbing the tree (really cool):

 

 

Third sighting (5 cheetahs - mother & 4 cubs, just over 1 year old):
After witnessing the cubs playing & climbing I told my guide that we could start heading back to camp. It was about 2pm and animals are not active during the middle of the day (plus it was HOT). Of course on our way back we come across 5 cheetahs that had just killed a young zebra about 5 feet off the road! Total luck, and again because it was the hottest part of the day we were the only vehicle at this incredibly sighting.

 

 

 

It was so hot at that point 3 of the cheetahs took shady cover under our vehicle...