Day 12: Little Governors' Camp

September 13...

This morning after taking a couple of sunrise shots, we bolted to the leopard area and sure enough there were about six or eight land rovers there already. There was a leopard walking through the brush. He was small, but a beautiful cat. We all tried getting good positioning to take pictures of him, but I doubt that anyone did get any good shots. There was just too much brush. Solomon managed to position the vehicle well for us a couple of times, but despite checking my light and speed before we got there, I still didn’t fair well. I blew it and just couldn’t get my act together quickly enough for good shots.

After watching the leopard we went down to a creek crossing where we stumbled upon literally thousands of wildebeest and zebra. They spotted the horizon and all seemed to be coming down to get a drink which made for some great photography opportunities. We took hundreds of pictures, then stopped for breakfast.

After breakfast we went in search of cheetahs. A good guide looks for the outline of a cat in the distance. Solomon stopped and got out his binoculars and scanned the horizon. “Yes, there are cats over there” he said. I asked how he knew and he replied “six landrovers. Any more than two land rovers is the sighting of a cat.”

Two of the three cheetah brothers

I had to laugh. He is a pretty funny guy. Sure enough, by the time that we got over to the sighting the three cheetah brothers were relaxing under an acacia tree. What a great sighting. Hopefully we will see them again in better light on the afternoon game drive.

This afternoon we quickly checked out a small, young adult pride of four females and five males. I’m not sure they can really be called a pride as they are related and will be broken up to go their separate ways soon. From there we went to check out the cheetah brothers. By this time, the word had gotten out and 22 land rovers were lined up waiting for them to wake up. We waited for about an hour and a half, a couple hundred meters away, hoping that they would wake up and come towards us to find a meal. Eventually we gave up and just as we got there, the brothers were starting to wake up. The three of them played for about half an hour on and off. That was fantastic photography. I’m not sure that I got anything worthwhile yet, but it was fun all the same. Finally the cheetahs decided that it was time to hunt. They walked by us in the landrover (much to Gaye’s dismay after our last cheetah experience from 2008). From there they stood together scanning the herds of wildebeest. It was already 6:15p.m. and we had to be back at camp by 6:30. The light was almost gone anyway, so off we went. With the vast herds of wildebeest out there, I’m sure they will make a kill tonight and will be fat and happy tomorrow.

1903 images today. 4,392 pictures to go...

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View pictures of the lions from Little Governors' Camp.

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