The Endless Plains. Chapter 2. A Highlight in Low Light.

It was getting late on our first afternoon in the Serengeti. We needed showers, food and wine, but not necessarily in that order. 

As we were heading to the camp we spotted these cheetahs. A family of five, a mother and four cubs. The father, as usual, was absent without leave. In fact, you never see a male and female together unless they are undergoing marriage guidance counselling. 

It was a quarter to six and the sun was very low (sunrise at 6:30am, sunset at 6:30pm) and behind clouds.

Yes, they have clouds in Africa.

It was meant to be the dry season, but everything was out of kilter.

The season of 'small rains' (Mvuli) had started two months early. This is being blamed on human caused climate change. On the other hand it could be God's way of showing his contempt for unbelievers...

This had totally confused the wildebeest, who, let's face it, live a life of continual confusion anyway.

We were told that they had already crossed the river Mara into the Maasai Mara, and had already returned back into the Serengeti! There were none left on the Kenyan side, therefore we would see no Mara crossings. The whole point of us being there. Apart from all the other stuff of course.

They were, thankfully, talking bulls**t.

Anyway, I seem to have drifted away from the point of this blog. What about the cheetahs?

As the 'small rains' season was starting, the clouds were interfering with my photography.

This was meant to be 'the golden hour'. The best time to take photos.

Not today. Shooting a moving target in the near dark is a little tricky. 

You do know I mean with a camera don't you?

Anyway, these guys played close to the van. They could care less about us.

It was a privileged experience. 

For us I mean.

There are a few tricks to wildlife photography. You've got to be in the right place at the right time. This would normally mean hanging around for hours waiting for the sleeping predator to yawn. You need the right guide. You need to understand your camera's settings. You need a good lens that sucks in as much light as possible. And you need luck. 

We were lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time with the right guide on our very first day. We only lacked adequate light. And flashes are not allowed. Predators can get very angry if flashes are used. They may well direct their anger at you. That is quite a good deterrent.

Tricky huh?

Therefore I took as many pictures as I could in the random hope that some of them would look ok. I knew that this opportunity might never happen again. What are the chances of us seeing another family of cheetahs? 

Well, as it turns out...

After half an hour with these stunning creature, the lighting had reduced to that of a dull candle. So we headed off to the Olmara camp, arriving, as we always did, late.

Every day we arrived late. There was always that one last thing to do.

A delicious meal later, a few glasses of wine, then collapse into a coma for the night.

Except for the occasional pee....