Cheetah

Our final day in Erindi arrived and what a way to finish. In the morning we chose to look for Cheetah which, without realising, meant a two-hour drive to the other end of the reserve where they were often found. Using telemetry, whereby a radio collar is attached to the animal and a signal is transmitted to a receiver, we were able to track them down. Our guide used what can only be described as a TV aerial, pointing in different directions, waiting for a tell-tale ‘ping’ to give the animal’s direction away. As the ‘ping’ got louder we knew we were getting closer. Once our guide was comfortable the Cheetah was close by we stopped and got out of the jeep. From here we would be walking into the bush to find them. Armed with a rifle, our guide led us on as the hot sun bore down on us. It wasn’t long before, hiding in the thicket, we had our first glimpse of one. Given it was almost midday by this point they were understandably sitting in the shade and pretty much asleep. I could hardly blame them - in fact I had a snooze on the journey back to the lodge later that morning!