African Wild Cat - Secretive Cat of the Kalahari Desert
Leading up to our latest trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park we broke our own cardinal “rule” by adopting the typical safari-goer’s approach by compiling a wish list of animals/birds that we wanted to see. We learnt years ago that this is a recipe for disaster because if you do not see everything on your list you tend to not enjoy yourself and end up chasing around the park instead of slowing down and enjoying the deafening silence and smells that you only find in the bush.
Luckily sanity prevailed as soon as we laid eyes on those majestic red sand dunes and after a deep breath we mentally discarded the dreaded wish list and were ready to recharge our human “batteries”!
Do not get me wrong, there will always be a bucket list of sorts and as we are fairly newcomers to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (only our 3rd trip) the list was fairly extensive, a few notables are mentioned below:
Bucket List
Honey Badger
Red-necked Falcon
Lapped-faced Vulture
African Wild Cat
I still cannot believe it as I type this trip report but I am ecstatic to confirm that we not only saw both a honey badger and wild cat during our most recent trip but we saw each of them on 3 separate occasions - can you believe it!
first wild cat encounter
We woke up to a cooler morning with some heavy clouds which was a welcome break from the heat and whilst cruising along at 30km/h something about 10m from the road caught my eye as it broke the repetitive pattern of the red sand dunes. I slowed down and focused on the spot and that is when I realized that it was the back of an AFRICAN WILD CAT that was lying on it’s belly in the sand - I could not believe it - we had found our 1st ever wild cat!
It was awake (assume as they often fall prey to larger predators and hence normally found in trees) and as we stopped the car it turned and looked back at us - I can still picture those amazing eyes staring into my soul.
The light was not great but that did not deter me as I held my finger down on the shutter button hoping to capture the moment forever - we had got it! That is when another car pulled up and I immediately recognized the car - it was Rob & Andy who host a youtube channel that we are obsessed with (recommend you check out their Instagram and youtube channel called Moving Pictures Africa) - super cool guys and as a parting gift they mentioned a lion sighting to us that was a little further up the road!
Here is our 1st ever photo (not great quality but a bucket list shot nonetheless)
As we sat around the fire that evening enjoying a cold beer, the discussion quickly shifted to the wild cat sighting, and although we were celebrating I could not prevent the photographer in me wanting more - I wanted an African Wild Cat in a camelthorn tree with that golden light that the Kgalagadi is so famous for!
A few days later we spotted another wild cat but we were too late to see it cross the road so my wife and I just lived in the moment and watched the cat head off towards the nearest sand dune.
magic
It was during our afternoon drive a few days later that one of the most magical moments to-date unfolded right in front of our very own eyes - with the perfect afternoon light bathing a camelthorn tree in golden light I spotted an African Wild Cat jump onto one of the lower branches … this was the moment!
Despite getting into position quickly we were too late for the classic shot as the cat had made it’s way up the trunk of the tree and was now preening/grooming itself on a branch that was half blocked from our field of view.
The next few minutes felt like an eternity as the cat toyed with our emotions by keeping it’s head down low each time it moved towards the trunk and instead of climbing down it continued to climb higher with the thicket at the top of the tree being it’s clear target.
We had all but lost hope (it was looking VERY comfortable) when all of a sudden something on the ground caught the wild cat’s attention and it started turning around - YES, it was going to climb down.
The next few moments are a blur but I do remember the cat posing for a few moments near the fork of the tree in a perfect spot, what are the chances! Satisfied that I had the correct settings to cope with the high dynamic range (golden light and deep shadows) all I had to do was to wait for the perfect moment when the cat made direct eye contact with me - as the shutter clicked I knew I had captured the photo that I had so passionately hoped for!
introducing the stunning african wild cat
Thanks for joining me on this adventure and hope you too are living your best life and getting out into nature!
Till next time…