WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY
She is Constantly on Alert
The fastest animal on land in the vastness of the Tanzanian wilderness
I wasn’t expecting it. She was much smaller than I expected. But so gracious. She was almost too thin, I’d say. But I know she got some muscles. I wouldn’t be able to race against her. She’s the fastest. On earth.
I was on a safari driving through the majestic Serengeti. It was early in the morning and freezing cold. Until this day I didn’t know it could be cold in Africa. And no, I wasn’t prepared. I was wearing all the clothes I had with me.
Driving in this open safari vehicle was amazing for being close to the animals but it made it even colder before sunrise. But we were up so early to find the missing few we still hadn’t seen.
Cheetahs were some of the animals named by the group. The guide had asked us at the beginning of the tour what we were expecting and which kind of animals we’d like to see. He didn’t promise us anything but showed us all the animals we had mentioned.
It was pure luck. He said.
We were driving across the grassland of the Serengeti. The last gravel road we had turned off from was far away. All I could see was vastness.
But the guide spotted something. There were dots. Spots on an animal. The dots of the fur of an animal. It was a cheetah. But it wasn’t just any cheetah. It was a female one with three cubs.
It wasn’t easy to spot them. The cubs. They were well hidden in the grassland. And their mom made sure they were safe. But sometimes she needs to move their home. To protect them from other predators. And that’s what she was doing this morning.
She was on the move. With her precious offspring.
She was on alert. We couldn't just see it in her eyes. We could feel it. There was some tension in the air. Every sound she heard made her look around. Every wind gust blowing by made her duck down and hide in the tall grass.
But we got a glimpse of the little ones.
While she was sitting upright overlooking the grassland, we could see the young ones playing around. They were having a blast. They didn’t know fear and had no idea of the dangers of the wild. Just yet. There was still a lot this mother had to teach her young ones.
She found a little hill. Just made of sand but enough for her to get some outlook onto the surroundings. She climbed atop while the young ones were fighting in the grass.
One of her cubs was looking for some attention and climbed up to her. I missed the moment the little one looked at us. But she had beautiful eyes. I can tell you that.
Shortly after, we left them alone.
It’s their home.
Their wilderness.
“In a race between the cheetah and the deer, many times the deer wins because the cheetah is running for food and the deer for his life.”
Remember
“Purpose is more important than need.” — Iksharma.com
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