As my friends might know, and I am sure people that worked with me know, patience is a virtue that is not part of my personality. When something needs to be done, it should be done quickly. And when I want to see something I want to see it now… like cheetahs that live in the South African Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. This is the last park of our trip and so our last chance to see these amazing animals in the wild. You probably think the name sounds familiar, makes you think of Kalahari. Well this park is the result of a merger between the Kalahari-Gemsbok NP in South Africa and the Mabuasehube-Gemsbok NP in Botswana.
Gemsbok, every time we look at them now we imagine
them on our plates. LOL
Obviously you can enter the park in SA and Botswana but you can also make your way in through the Mata Mata gates situated at the Namibian border. The only ‘catch’ is that you have to stay 2 night in the park if you are leaving the nature reserve via another gate and so via another country. This was not part of our plan but as the detour to avoid spending two nights here costs us the same in fuel, we decide to take it as it comes and book ourselves a campground for 2 nights. And thank goodness they did not let us make a daytrip only! Thank goodness for rip-off rules and regulations ‘cos on the first day we don’t see any predators but after a good night sleep we not only see black-maned lions but also 8 cheetahs not far from the car. Patience has made this wish come true!
Hmmm, interesting
Black-maned lions
Don’t forget to bring your camera!
As we set off at 7 am not many tourists are on their way to spot animals yet. But that is the time to be out and about as the cheetahs look for preys in the cool morning hours. Thanks to a photographer we see 4 cheetahs about 200 meters from the car. At least our binoculars (or do I have to say monoculars as one part always falls of LOL) makes them seem a bit closer to us. The photographer moves on but we decide to sit patiently and hope they come our way. As the big cats start walking, we start the car again and reposition ourselves strategically. It might sound boring to watch the cheetahs just walk and linger a bit but it is truly a fantastic experience to see them in the wild. Our patience is rewarded: after about 45 minutes they cross the street not even 20 meters away from us.
Cheetahs far away
The reward for being patient : )
To end our great day, we see four cheetahs in the evening, only 5 meters away from us, but with a fence in between. You see, you have to be in the fenced camping area before 6 pm. As we set of to go and give notice that we’ve returned from our day trip Kosta says we should try and check something first. The evening before other people saw some cheetahs near the cottages on the other side of the fence, maybe they are there again. And we are lucky because 4 gorgeous cats come walking out of the high grass. The fastest pussy cats in the world are walking at a slow pace, not caring about the car that drives next to them. What a sight, what a highlight, this is truly fantastic!
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