Stories

“There’s a cheetah in hunting mode.”

Nah, not interested.

It was a misty, chilly morning when our driver got that message. We were parked near a kopje as we had spied a good-sized pride of lions on the kopje. True to form they were resting but, who knows, they might move.

A cheetah prowling for a meal wasn’t novel for any of us. If nothing else had been happening, for sure, we would have rushed there. But, compared with the possibility of getting a frame of a lion on a kopje, the choice was clear.

“A serval ahead.” Our driver said as he peered through his binoculars.

Nah.

Same logic. The serval is an uncommon sighting but it was just a serval walking in the grass. Versus a lion up on a kopje. The second was only a possibility, but that potential prize was precious. And maybe, the serval might walk towards us. (It did)

“A cheetah with five cubs a little ahead.”

Vrooomm!!!

We sped off.

There was not much debate. Cubs and five cubs at that, always win.

When we arrived, the scene seemed a little tense. There was a nip in the air, the light was subdued and the grass glistened with dew. A few other vehicles stood in a semi-circle and in a tiny grassy depression, the cheetah mother sat with her cubs huddled around her.

She appeared nervous. She was continuously looking around her. The Serengeti is wide open and offers little protection, but she appeared to be spooked about something specific. We couldn’t see anything, but that wasn’t surprising. We wondered if it could be the other cheetah that was hunting.

After fifteen minutes or so, we decided to give her some space and moved away to a few rocks to have our breakfast. The open and flat land ensured that there we would see the young family moving.

As I sipped contentedly on a cup of strong black coffee, someone urgently whispered – They are on the move.

Vrooomm!

The chill had vanished by now; the land was bathed in sunlight; it was sunny in a warm nourishing way but not yet hot. The cubs appeared to be well fed and were frisky and full of energy to expend.

And expend they did.

They chased one another through the grass; they tumbled on each other; they nipped at the flying tails and fleeing backsides. Every object, small and big, was interesting and needed an immediate investigation till something else, new and shiny, caught their fancy.

Once one of them came hurtling down and before anyone, including the little cub, realized, was under one of the vehicles. The bottom of a vehicle offered immense scope for enquiry. Soon the other siblings joined in and the vehicle had no choice but to stay put. (The driver was blameless here. He had parked at a safe distance but with playful cubs, distances might not matter much. He kept the engine shut, moving the vehicle away the moment the cubs ran out.)

Occasionally, one of them would hurry back to cuddle with the mother and usually that would spark a mass migration from the rest. The entire brood would roll up under her, and with indignant mews filling the air as they jostled for prime position, have a quick feed. A few minutes later, they would once again be ready to explore the mysteries of the world around them.

In between wide smiles, throaty chuckles and open laughter, we were furiously clicking. We had to keep moving around as these cubs would go zooming off in one direction and then the other, without any warning. Getting into the right position was more an element of luck than of planning.

There are occasions when the images would reveal more than my words and this was one of them.

So, here are some of the images that I shot that happy morning.

Who are these strange looking people ?  Do they need to be challenged ?

(Don’t they look like some school kids spoiling for a fight ? )

Nope… we’d rather play !!!

And chase each other mindlessly

The wide world is our playground

Though sometimes our speed takes us out of the frame 

This is new and interesting…let me give you a leg up

Playing is tiring business…we need our mom!

Ummm…that feels a lot better

Food!!!

Before we start playing again !

Cheers !

Ashok