Tuesday, January 13, 2009

An Afternoon Meeting with Savannah, the Cheetah


Hallo (no, that is not a typo, it is "Hello" in Afrikaans),

I am currently staying here and yesterday, I had the priviledge of meeting the resident cheetah, Savannah. She is 9 years old and wild in the sense that she lives on the reserve, hunts for herself and mates with the wild male cheetahs but she is very friendly with the humans. We saw her while she was eating so were not allowed to touch her but she was happy for us to stand right near her and watch. She even purred. We are told that she sometimes she climbs into the open safari vehicle with visitors and rides around with them, looking for her prey (and when she finds an unsuspecting animal, she leaps out - but you only see the dust, she is too fast to see - about 120 kmph). But we have not personally seen this.

All in all, it is amazing stuff. South Africa is in many ways similar to Australia excepting the wild life of course. But the landscape looks almost the same at times. And the weather warm and humidity. The people all speak English and Afrikaans. I like listening to the languages and accents.

I'm not sure when I can post again but next we are heading up to Zambia, to visit and view Victoria Falls. So hopefully I can report in after seeing this spectacular scene. If you've come here, looking for craft, please forgive this travel diversion.

I am missing home, especially my son Ashley and look forward to seeing everyone again. But in the mean time, we're having a wonderful adventure.

"Dankie" for reading and "Totsiens" for now,

Love from Crafty Kim

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Kim,
Keep posting as much as u can cause I am living vicariously thru ur travels. Loving the pics (the SLR cam is doing the trick...LOL). Hops all is 'pumping' along nicely and that u r hassle free.

Lynda xx

Ramona Michaluk said...

Oh Kim, you lucky girl! I wish I was there with you to meet this beautiful feline - just love cats, both wild and domestic and this one is stunning!

Thanks for sharing your adventures - your photos are wonderful. You must be having a fantastic time over there!