Kgalagadi Cheetah Sightings - CURRENT

[Mel]

Corinne and 2017 Boys

End October / start November close to Houmoed

We arrived at the Cheetah's , after a bit they stood up and as luck would have it came directly towards us



I Then decided to photograph the Three Thorn bush with the cheetah in the back ground



cheetahs











It was now getting late , so last photo of the cheetah and we headed back

[Mel]

Gina's 2016 Boys

We found 2 Cheetah close to Rooiputs, We stayed with them for least 40 minutes,









They then lost interest so we thought and went over the ridge to a tree

[Mel]

Catrin and 2017 Cubs

28/12/2018 Kousant to Polentswa

Kousant continues to deliver

The next morning, we decided to avoid the badly corrugated road to the north and to go south once again.
The decision paid off.


It’s about 8 kilometres from Polentswa to Kousant, and we were about half way there when Debbie spotted a couple of heads peeping over the horizon on the left hand side

A cheetah mother with two sub adult cubs were walking parallel to the road heading south







It wasn’t too long before to our delight, they came closer to the road, and then crossed over to the right



They paused briefly before carrying on, out of view





The sighting in total lasted only a few minutes and we watched helplessly as the moved off in the direction of Kousant
Maybe we would pick them up again at the waterhole. We hoped so.

[Mel]

Hanri and 2017 Female Cub

01/01/2019

It was just before 12:00 when we got to 14 th borehole and we came upon these two cheetah parking off in the shade under a tree

[Mel]

Thorn

04/01/2019

One of the reasons as to why Urikaruus is one of our most favourite spots, is that you never know at any given time as to what will arrive at the waterhole whilst you are there.

It was our last morning at Urikaruus before we were to head south to Rooiputs for the last few days of our trip, and we woke early.
Debbie decided to go downstairs to put the kettle on for coffee, but was up again in a flash

Camera, light where are they. There’s something at the waterhole!

Well, if anything, that got me going and out of bed.

A cheetah had come down to the waterhole to drink. It was still dark so instead of photos, we took videos instead. The photos which we do take in the dark generally don’t come out too well.

(5.20 in the morning for those asking!)

These are the best of the bunch:

19-01-04 Uri GavinW.jpg (82.59 KiB) Viewed 1251 times

[Mel]

Beauty

5 January 2019: A day to remember
We arrived at the kij Kij waterhole at 6:20am to find a cheetah quenching it’s thirst before the heat of the day. I was super excited, as cheetah are one of my most favourite predators and to see one close up is always special

19-01-05 Kij GavinW.jpg (150.12 KiB) Viewed 1250 times

19-01-05 Kij GavinW 03.jpg (117.31 KiB) Viewed 1250 times

She drank for a while before moving out of sight into the dunes at the back of the waterhole.

19-01-05 Kij GavinW 02.jpg (138.44 KiB) Viewed 1250 times

[Mel]

Beauty

End of October 2018 Kij Kij to Rooiputs

now we had a problem , where will he go, will it go for the springbok on our side of the road or those on the other side of the road. Do I try and take it full on or opt for a side shot, if full on will the lens and camera be fast enough, where is the sun and how will It effect the shoot if it does go

I decided to go for a side shot just in case the camera and lens is not fast enough for a full on shot, there are ways of doing it with a slow camera, but I was not going to take any chance, as for the sun drove slightly past the cheetah so the angle would change quickly once it started to move. I opted for a fast speed 1/4000, was not going to make the same mistake as I did on day one .All in my mind was get the shot

So we wait and wait with my eye to the camera waiting for the charge, nothing, so I decide to start photographing squirrel



One photo later SG says the Cheetah, huh what about the Cheetah, SG it's charging panic stations . I start shooting with short burst's as not to full the memory up before the final action

Enjoy







and then one of the shots I always wanted





He then swung and went over the road

shot through the back window closed





looking through the side mirror on SG side due to the canopy I see a cloud of dust ,tell SG to turn around as he has caught the buck

[Mel]

Kij Kij June Mates

08/01/2019 at Kij Kij

Arriving at the waterhole at about 6:45, we found no brownies, but these two cheetah instead



Thank you

19-01-08 Kij GavinW 01.jpg (154.74 KiB) Viewed 1249 times

Male 1308

19-01-08 Kij GavinW 02.jpg (153.85 KiB) Viewed 1249 times

Male 1308

19-01-08 Kij GavinW 04.jpg (141.59 KiB) Viewed 1249 times

Together

19-01-08 Kij GavinW 03.jpg (156.53 KiB) Viewed 1249 times

Male 1408

We watched them until they moved off, where after we needed to return to Rooiputs to finish packing, hitch the trailer and set off on the 12 hour drive back to Cape Town

[Mel]

Catrin's 2017 Girls

05/10/2019 south of Langklaas and 07/10/2019 south of Polentswa

[Mel]

Hanri

09/10/2019 just south of Kamqua

12/10/2019 between Montrose and Batulama

13/10/2019 just before Auchterlonie

18/10/2019 at Rooibrak