We're Doing What?

Our first game drive at Shamwari started off as most do, but soon into our drive we discovered this was not going to be ordinary. Our game ranger was named Jonnie, pronounced Yawny, and was very young and very brave! We came across some typical animals in the bush- Kudos, Impala, Zebra-animals that are easily sited, and then we could tell Jonnie was on the hunt. At one point he stopped the jeep and proceeded to get out with his rifle and head into the bush-we all had no idea what was going on. We were a little scared, thinking if anything happened to him, what in the hell were we going to do? He came back saying he was looking for cheetahs. Then we drove away and once again stopped and the game ranger left again, at this time we were now laughing at our situation(the laughs were to hide our nervousness). Jonnie comes back and starts making calls on his radio, saying he has a group of six and can he go in-I was thinking he was asking to drive his jeep in close to the cheetahs-NO! I was so wrong, he was asking if he could take us in the bush, on foot! OK, a thousand things are rushing through my head-are you serious, are we safe, my two boys are here, what the hell-but then the other option is to wait in the jeep alone! So we set off-I was not prepared, of course none of us were, I had on my flip flops trudging through the fields. He gave us an overview of what was about to happen-follow single file, boys in front, Pat in the back, no sudden moves, listen to him at all times, no pictures until we are there, no talking, if an incident happens listen to his command and DO NOT RUN. I listened to all instructions, took in a huge breath and then off we went. We walked for a while, and then all of sudden we are there! We were within four feet of three cheetahs, three very real, very live cheetahs, three wild cheetahs; and all that was protecting us was this young wild ranger! My heart beat a thousand beats a minute, but what a view. We got to see them in the wild, they looked at us but did not seem interested. Jonnie said as long as we do not go into their personal space we would not bother them, and we did not look like prey because we were in a single line that resembled a unit. My question was, how do we know their personal space? We survived-we saw cheetahs in their natural setting, we walked in an African field and saw wild life at it's finest. We made the best memories of our life, of our boys life!