The Cheetah quest continues...

Although we had plans to head to the Musiara Marsh mid way during our trip we have decided to make a slight change of plan and at present continue to stay around the Olkiombo area. Whilst we are keen to hook up with the Marsh Pride and see how they are doing as well as to see the Marsh breakaway females its not every day that you get the opportunity to see young Cheetah cubs. So with two sets of cubs around the area it seemed sacrilege to move anywhere else and therefore mission for the last 36 hours has been predominantly looking for Cheetah. 

Yesterday morning we went again to look for Maliaka and her two young cubs (Two month’s old) and the same little cuties that we saw on the 4th. After spending around 2 hours looking we abandoned the search. It was highly likely we could have driven past her, grass as high as six foot in some places is a damn good hiding place for the little spotty ones! So before the heat grew too intense we headed to where the Notch boys were, around 45 minutes away and South of the Talek River.

It was not long until we came back to the similar area they had been the day prior but by now it was getting pretty hot so we scoured under croton bushes and in the long grass. By now it was likely we would find them horizontal and sure enough they were. Grimace and Caesar were flat out in the grass and not too far away Notch 2, who was still mating with the young female. Notch and Ron were nowhere to be seen but no doubt not far away.

Grimace and Caesar were laying directly in the sun so we decided to sit it out and wait as we knew it would nt be long until they would need to find shade and sure enough around 30 minutes later they hauled themselves up and moved around 50 metres into the Croton and it was here we left them and headed back to camp.

In the afternoon we decided to head to Look Out Hill with our friends Aatish and Aashit to look for the other Cheetah mum who has 4 six week old cubs and also look into the distance toward the Serengeti and Sand River for any signs of the impending Wildebeest migration. Apart from a few small herds of Zebra we could not see any Wildebeest at all and so the migration still seemed some distance away, although some guides had reported earlier in the day seeing a herd of around 300 Wildebeest approaching.

As we started making our way back we finally came across the Cheetah and cubs, but only knew they were there as a few vehicles had been with them for the day, sadly they were not visible at all and lay flat in the grass. After waiting for quite some time to see if they would move Andy and I decided to make use of the last remaining evening light and head back toward camp and check out the whereabouts of the Ridge Pride, who we had passed on the way to Look Out Hill. Split into two groups around 1km apart they had barely moved in the last 3 hours since passing them on the way to Look Out. Although they had clearly managed to make a small kill as one of the sub males proudly munched on the head of a Warthog. 

The next morning (this morning) we again dedicated our efforts to finding the Cheetah Cubs near Look Out. Returning to the same area that she had been seen the night before, we knew that they would certainly be in the same area, as the tiny cubs would not be able to move far. Again we had no luck although we knew they were likely to be there, but as this morning was so cold and very cloudy it would be sometime before mother and cubs would rise from their slumber and where no doubt she was keeping the cubs warm until the sun gained some strength. We waited for some time but then felt our best option was to perhaps try them a little later when it was warmer. 

So we left the area and decided to track back across the Talek River via the area the Notches were seen the day prior. Although we knew by now they would most likely have moved off and this indeed proved to be true but it was still worth a quick check. These guys cover immense distances and by now were most likely a good few kilometres away.

With no luck with the one group of Cheetah Cubs we headed back to where Maliaka had been hanging out in the last few days and sure enough, with the help of a little 'inside intel’ found her and her cubs perched on a termite mound protected by Croton. Finally we were able to get a good view of the cubs. They seemed to be getting cuter day by day as they slept close to mum, at times resting on her and giving us a few good opportunities to get some nice stills.

After sitting with them for around 1.5 hours and fortunately this time in the company of only a few (well behaved!) vehicles the cubs began to get restless and started mooching around the bottom of the Termite mound, all the time Maliaka keeping a watchful eye on her fragile and vulnerable babies as they ventured a few metres away from Maliaka. Although still hard to sex at such a young age it looked as if the two cubs were a male and female. They played mischievously with Maliakas tail and one cub even decided to start investigating its surroundings by climbing into the Croton, peeking out before virtually falling back down inside the bush. We must have spent over two hours with them and although most of the time they slept it was so nice to sit and be able to absorb these gorgeous little creatures and to see them interacting with their new home and with each other and their mother. What made the morning even more special was that despite traveling extensively around various reserves in Africa and with at least 23/24 visits the the Mara we have seen very few Cheetah Cubs so we were really so happy to have been able to spend this amount of time with them. Above all we are just hoping so much that she had success in raising them to adulthood which given the high rate of cub mortality in the Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem will be a huge challenge for sure. 

Later this afternoon we returned to the Cheetah cubs, but this time they lay hidden and did so until we had to return to camp for the night. A shame as by the evening the cloud had dissipated providing the most amazing evening light and a spectacular sunset as we drove back across the beautiful African plains of the Mara.

Grimace seeks shade

Grimace and Caesar in symmetry!

Malaika grooming one of her cubs

The Cheetah family resting on the termite mound

Caesar 

The sky glows red over the plains