The search for the elusive cheetahs

Over the course of our first two game drives, we were able to spot elephants, giraffes, rhinos, lions, springboks, blaze boks, kudus, impalas, zebras, tortoises and leopards, as well as mongeese, hares, bat-eared foxes, and a large variety of birds. Today we even located a group of hippos in the Bushman River. But so far, the cheetahs have eluded us. For our initial drive, we simply drove around the central area of the reserve and saw whatever animals happened to be around. We now go out with a purpose-with a goal of finding those animals we have not yet seen. We use all of our senses (with the exception of taste, obviously), to try to pinpoint their location. Throughout the drive,we use our eyes to scan the plains, and study the brush for any sign of movement that might indicate a particular animal has been there. We also look for tracks and try to determine how recently an animal has traversed a track, and in which direction the animal was heading. We smell for urine and dung as well-it's amazing how you can track an animal through its urine and dung (although I'm sorry to say that, when our guide, Phillip, slammed on the brakes because he detected an incredibly strong odor of leopard urine, I couldn't say I'd noticed the scent.) We have learned to pick up the scent of lion, elephant and rhino dung-as you can imagine, given their size their dung leaves a pretty potent odor-and we are very skilled at recognizing rhino toilets! Believe it or not, unlike other animals, rhinos all go poo in the same place, away from where they are eating. One will walk away from the area in which they are feeding and go,and then each of the others will move over and go, one at a time, in the same spot. So they obviously leave fairly large piles around, and they are referred to as rhino toilets. Elephants, meanwhile, just go where they are standing, often continuing to eat at the same time.
Anyway, our last two drives, we have been focused on the elusive cheetahs-with no success. Fortunately, though, we have still seen some amazing sights. Last night, for example, we came upon a pride of lions-Mom, 3 young sisters (brother has been kicked out to now find his own way-otherwise, he would try to force Dad out and take over the pride), Grandma, and 4 new cubs. Dad was off somewhere-we guessed that, since he was living with his wife, 3 young girls, mother-in-law and 4 new babies, that he was blowing off steam at the local watering hole, but our guide informed us that he was protecting their territory to ensure that no other male lions tried to intrude. Look closely at the lion pix-while the young females and Grandma didn't even acknowledge our presence, Mom did move the cubs further away where they could hide in the tall grass. You can just see the tips of their heads peeking through the grass.
We also came across a black and white rhino apparently flirting with one another, despite the fact that they are unable to cross breed. Our guide was completely astounded at the sight. The rhinos are the most endangered of all of the animals in Africa, and the black rhino is especially rare. Despite all of the efforts of conservationists, poachers still seek out their horns, and, since the black rhino's 2 horns are larger than those of the white rhino, it is the one most frequently hunted. The two rhinos put on quite a show for us (the white rhino is the male and he was definitely showing off his stuff). After a few minutes, the white rhino's family arrived, and they didn't seem to approve of what was occurring-as you can see from the pictures, a confrontation ensued. At the sight of the female white rhino's large impressive horn, though, the black rhino opted to move on.
Finally, this morning, while observing a group of kudu, we spotted a young female lion who was hunting. We quickly shifted our position so we could watch the lion, figuring she was heading over to the kudu. Before she could reach them, though, the guinea hens started the alarm and it was quickly picked up by the monkeys. At that point, the sounds of alarms reverberated through the area. The lion opted to move off of the plain and into the bush where she was better hidden. We repositioned ourselves on the opposite side of the river where we could watch her, and noticed that there was a good-sized warthog just off the path that she was traveling. We were certain we were going to see a lion take on a warthog. Amazingly, though, (and apparently because it was a very experienced warthog and a very young and inexperienced lion,) the warthog remained very still, and she walked right past him! Boy did he bolt when she had gotten far enough past that he felt he was safe! It was an incredible thing to watch! I was able to get a picture of the lion on her hunt when she walked right past our vehicle-only about 10 feet away.
Animals in the wild are not only a thing of beauty, but they are awe-inspiring! To be able to enter their habitat and observe them from close up as they go about their daily business is such an amazing experience, and something you cannot even imagine until you have spent time with them in their territory.
We ended our drive today with a stop at the Born Free Center, which is a rehabilitation center for cats who have been rescued from deplorably unhealthy living situations (poorly run zoos, nightclubs, and other so-called entertainment venues). The animals are kept there in very large penned spaces where they are first nurtured back to health and then allowed to live out their lives in a more natural environment. While the conservationists would love to reintroduce them into their natural habitat, for a variety of reasons, they can't. So they provide the best setting possible for them. Seeing those animals, many of whom are suffering the lasting effects of malnutrition and mistreatment, only reinforces the fact that, despite what we think, humans are wild animals' most dangerous predator, and education and conservation are necessary to ensure their survival.
Enjoy the pix!