| On safari-- wildlife and nature photos |
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| In the Okavango Delta |
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A day in the life of a cheetah
Grassland hunter...
on the prowl at Mombo, in Botswana's Okavango Delta. The photograph on the left, 'Coat of arms', is one of my favorites. It was my first full day on safari and my first encounter with a cheetah. And the image will be forever evocative of the African wilderness I first knew: the deep green and pale gold of the delta as lushness and dryness exist side-by-side for much of the year; and set against this background, the cheetah in classic dog-like pose on a termite mound, surveying the dry flood-plain for prey
She flushes and
quickly runs down a reedbuck, then drags it into the concealment of tall grass
Is it safe to eat
here? If lion or hyena detect her, she'll surrender her kill without
argument, rather than become a victim herself
She's not disturbed,
and spends all day alternately eating and resting in her grassy hiding place. More cheetah stories and images can be found on these pages: Spots 'n' blotches, Cheetah brothers, Kwando Reserve, the Masai Mara
Home from the hunt
Spotted hyena, after a night's raging in the Okavango Delta; a wild dog sentinel awaiting the pack's return to the den from hunting; a young ratel, or honey badger, a blur of action as it bravely charges a safari vehicle; and a giraffe sedately moving away
And not far from the cheetah's hiding place, the local lions begin resting up from their own night out. An adolescent stares at the camera with youthful curiosity
North of the delta, an elephant drinks from a waterhole in the Savuti channel
At the Chobe River, Botswana's northern frontier, a herd of elephants joyfully ends a thirsty day; a lone bull roams; another solitary elephant takes a break in the heat of the day; an African fish eagle takes flight; and a puku, an antelope of the Kobus genus
Photo sales information
Read my published accounts of this safari
"Africa for beginners" and
"Awed by jaws of death" 
Equipment used in Botswana: Pentax Spotmatic with Sigma 70-210 mf zoom, Konica Super XG 400 and Kodak Gold 400. The Maplink to the left shows where the photographs were taken. Go to the menu below for more images from Africa and elsewhere. Big cats, other predators, elephants and other herbivores all feature in the Linyanti (Botswana), Zambia, Kenya, Zimbabwe and slideshow pages
