(I’m having technical problems with the video clip. Not sure it’s working. Please try it again later if it isn’t.)
My saw a Lifer today!
I saw my first cheetah on Malilangwe at dawn, drinking at Banyini. Unfortunately this guy was a little nervous and didn’t even allow me time to get a photo.
Cheetah are very rare on Malilangwe but do drift through the reserve every now and then. They require huge home ranges and this guy had probably ventured in from Gonarezhou National Park to the south.
With a very pretty dawn and with the cheetah I was hoping to be in for a good day, well at least for the few hours that I was out there pretending to be filming.
It would be really unfair for me to say it was bleak out there, especially as I only spent about 3 hours looking for activity and the rest of the day doing my manual labour.
These zebra came in nervously to drink at Bandama at dawn. Nervous only really because I was parked on a side of the pan that no one parks on. But today I wanted to shoot from a different perspective. And of course the reflections provided a very different perspective.
Hola Kim,
Wow. What a surprise to learn this is the first cheetah you’ve seen! Makes one even more nervous about how many wild ones are surviving out there. Congratulations on your Lifer!
There is a reserve near here, Fossil Rim, that has had great success in cheetah breeding. They are in large outdoor enclosures, large enough they can choose to not be seen. The first time I saw them (this is a drive reserve), I had the windows down on the Firebird, so when she stood up, good chills swept up arms, heart skipped some beats and I scarcely breathed. There was a soft wind billowing the grass about her, and seemingly from nowhere, her four cubs mutually pounced on mom. Bliss, bliss.
Lovely perspective of the zebras! About half way thru, noticed white, white legs sans stripes! Watched again, and it’s only occasionally one perceives a few muted stripes. Ethereal, dreamy. Very nice, very.
The video played right off the first time, but to replay it, I clicked to Comments, and had to coax it to play again, otherwise no problem.
b.
The video played fine, although there were a couple of “skips” in the music. But that could have been my computer. I liked how the zebras were spooked briefly by something towards the end, then turned back around towards the water.
Speaking of the music, it is/was lovely, as always. How do you decide what to play in the background? Could you ever publish a list of the pieces and composers you use, so we viewers could purchase the soundtracks?
Something to add on to your “to do” list…..
Eve
Music? I just play through the tracks I have and see or rather hear which one works. I obviously don’t always get it right. Cheers Kim
Time spent reading your write up is valuable. Many of people should positively read this!
I adore the comments on this website, it definitely gives it that community feel!