12th August 2019, 8 am - On a safari in Seringiti National Park
It was early in the day and we had just started our game drive. We were all still trying to wake up from our drowsy self when Mirage stopped the car in the middle of the road. He was intently listening to the commotion on the radio. Everyone in the car was trying to decipher the incoming Swahili stream of voices. Whoa! In a jolt, he quickly began a series of turns to make a full u turn on that tight road. Out guide, Mirage, never hurried. So, naturally, Ashwin was extra curious and asked him what was up. Mirage just said "Wait for it!" and raced on. Once we were there (oh, we knew we were there cos we saw a bunch of other jeeps), all eyes were peering through binoculars, lens or phone - whatever could aid us in spotting the predator that was no doubt, brilliantly camouflaged in those endless, caramel, parched fields. "There. A cheetah is sitting near the tree. Do you see it?", said Mirage. None of us could spot it. Because... Because we were all looking far far away while it was like right there. Right under the tree, right by the dirt road we were on. There it was again, that scream and excitement I could barely bottle. I was literally jumping, failing to contain the shrill that was fizzing out of me.
As ferocious an animal it is, it was also a cute, hot, smart cat!! It just sat there like no care or scare in the world and looked at the new jeep that just parked, at us! Like that wasn't enough, it got up. Aaaaa. Like that wasn't enough, it began to walk. Aaaaa. OMG! That royal walk, with the ones bones protruding from its back moving as rhythmically as it legs!! It ambled on, away from us and choose a different spot to sit. Now, it was at a distance where we could only see it clearly with a binoculars. It was weird that it chose a sunny spot to relax. But, its head was up, casually looking left and right. We thought it was may be sun bathing but Mirage pointed out that it was actually calculating its move, surveying its surroundings, prepping to hunt the gazelles that were grazing at a distance. We waited, hopeful. Forget about the urge to see a hunt. We were sitting there hoping that we would atleast be fortunate enough to see the big cat run. But the cheetah was sitting as well. No sign that it was gonna get moving any time soon. Mirage pointed that it might be hrs before it happens. After he repeated that a bunch of times, we left, disappointingly.
As we were driving out towards the loop we were on, after a good 10min, there was another chatter on the radio that stopped Mirage. He turned to us told us that the cat just tried to hunt and asked if we wanted to turn around and check it out. WTFFF!! Of course turn around! We were so close from giving him a "I told you so". While I was busy picturing the cheetah carrying it's prey and climbing a tree, Mirage informed us that the hunt was actually a miss. My imagination went back to show me a clip of the cheetah trying to hunt again. But, when we were back there, it seemed like nothing had changed. The cheetah was sitting at the same spot, same position even! The gazelles were grazing at the same area. Did we really miss anything? Soooo not sure. We couldn't get Mirage to give a proper explanation as to what he heard versus what might've transpired! With no closure, we moved on!...
