Early one cold winter’s morning during our group’s last game drive out in the bush, we were looking for giraffes, when we suddenly heard there might be some in the area of Eddie Young Plains. So we decided to try our luck and headed that way, with game ranger Phineas leading the way…
As Phineas arrived he found one bull, and not long after, four females arrived. We spent some time enjoying those majestic animals and as they slowly moved away we decided it was time for a break and a good cup of coffee. We drove a little further into the plains until we found the perfect place.
At a slightly elevated position with full view of the vast plains, with a wildebeest seen here and there, in the distance we saw one beautiful breeding male ostrich with its bright red patch on his front legs. This was the ideal spot to stretch our legs and enjoy some homemade rusks. As we started serving tea and coffee, one of the children on the vehicle started shouting, ‘Its chasing it, its chasing it!!’ As we all turned around, from across the other end of the plains, coming directly towards us, was a female cheetah attempting to catch our friend, the ostrich! The ostrich was running at great speed to get away from the cheetah snapping at its heels, and was slowly losing ground, but as they ran past us, the endurance of the ostrich allowed him to escape unharmed, without losing any speed, simply ‘flying’ across the plains and disappearing in the distance.
The cheetah slowly came to a stop about 60 meters away. She looked at us for a moment while catching her breath, but did not seem bothered by our presence at all. She eventually walked back slowly to where she came from. As we looked in that direction, we were thrilled to see two of her young cubs emerging from the thicket, and making their way towards their mother.
We all finished our drinks and packed everything away as quickly as possible, and jumped into the vehicle to follow the family. Not long after, they lay down in the shade under a tree and we left them in peace to return to the lodge and ending this safari in a most memorable way!
General Manager – Fritz Breytenbach
