To start off with, the day started like every day but with one added point, the stress for finding animals. The reason, the guests didn’t want to do the first afternoon game drive because they wanted to relax. The second day we were in motion. Wake-up call at 5:00 and coffee at 5:30.

Where were the guests when the clock hit 5:25? So I decided to give them a call. They picked up the phone and the first words were ‘we are on our way’. Good morning was the cheer as they arrived at the main lodge and two cappuccinos served up. The smell of the coffee aroma hanging in the air was magical, for me being a ranger and surviving on coffee, it is the beginning and end for me. I was ready for a second cup already.

I said when you are ready I will meet you at the cruiser. I opened the door of the cruiser and what do I see, a mother cheetah walking past the lodge, right past my idling cruiser with two sub-adults, ten month old cubs following behind. I turned around and ran back to the lodge. Junior jumped up running towards to me wanting to save me, a true hero, almost giving the guests a heart attack because they thought I was being chased as I screamed ‘cheetahs lets go now’.

We jumped in the car and slowly started following and all of a sudden the mother went into hunting mode, you could see it in the movement of the body, we knew something was up. All hell broke loose as she turned on full throttle and sped off like lighting, impala’s in complete chaos running all over the place.

One Impala came straight past the car with mother cheetah right behind her and all this in a few seconds she took a female impala down right next to our underground waterhole hide at 5:40.

Stress gone, epic sighting, cheetah kill from start to finish.

Welcome to Mhondoro!

Ranger: Evan Vermeulen

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