The Fastest Cat of the Kalahari - the Cheetah!

During our latest trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in April 2025 we were treated to numerous incredible sightings of lions, leopards and spotted hyena, but this EXHILARATING sighting of 2 male cheetah hunting springbok RIGHT next to our car trumped them all!

Let’s start at the beginning of this sighting - come on, let’s go!

Fatal mistake - almost

It was day 5 of our trip and up to this point nature had blessed us with some incredible sightings resulting in memory cards being filled time and time again - so much so that we were in a great place mentally and saying that any new sighting would be bonus.

We had just passed Rooiputs waterhole when we spotted cars on the road ahead of us - our heart rates quickening when noticing that the engines were switched off and the occupants were calmly sitting and waiting, their eyes locked onto something - what were they looking at?

After excitedly scanning the bush and not seeing anything, I pulled up next to the car in front of me and asked the gentleman what they were looking at - he turned to me almost in shock that I had not seen the 2 cheetah IN THE TREE (I mean that was the last place I was expecting to see cheetah)!

We returned to our position at the back of the row of cars and decided to give it a few minutes, if nothing happened we were going to try and find the leopard we had spotted a few days earlier further north along the Nossob riverbed. As I was going to switch the car on to leave, one of the cheetah stretched and scent marked before jumping down the tree. Not to be left behind, his brother soon followed suit and ran after his brother who was now making his way north.

The row of cars cautiously (so as not to disturb or impact them in any way) followed the cheetah as they walked and scent marked, when all of a sudden one of them stopped dead in his tracks, craned his neck to see what was coming towards them in the riverbed, before both of them lay flat on the ground - in hunting positions!

The moment

We followed their line of sight and that is when we spotted them, 3 springbok happily grazing on the new grass shoots caused by the heavy rains, they were totally unaware of the danger that lay waiting with taut muscles, ready to pounce!

We too found ourselves with hunched shoulders, elevated heart rates and breathless as the springbok inched closer and closer - they had not picked up the scent of the cheetah yet as it was a windless, calm morning.

All of a sudden the first springbok froze, eyes widened, nostrils flared - he had just caught the scent of his deadly advisory! Immediately as the springbok started alarm calling the other 2 instinctively followed suit - we were so engaged that we could almost feel their brains trying to calculate the best escape route - I mean talk about the pressure of a split second decision that meant life or death.

The springbok decided that their best chance of survival was to drop their heads resulting in their horns pointing forward, and running STRAIGHT at the cheetah!

The images below are my first ever of a cheetah hunt - I am particularly proud of the last image taken of the cheetah at FULL pace!

It turned out to be the springboks lucky day, however I feel that if these cheetah had not fed on a red hartebeest a few days earlier it would have been a different story!

I have also just launched my YouTube channel - would love for you to experience the thrills of this trip by clicking here - if you enjoy it kindly give it a “thumbs up” and consider subscribing.

I challenge you to book your bucketlist safari TODAY instead of waiting till “some day”, as that day may never arrive!

Till next time…