Photos from Safari 2023

Unfortunately, we were not able to spot a leopard while on safari. That kind of makes me sad. Leopards are considered one of the “Big 5”. I had previously spotted a leopard while on Safari in Uganda, but no such luck this time.

We did, however, see two of these… 

Cheetahs are awesome! 

I was really happy to see a cheetah while on safari because it is our youngest daughter’s favorite animal. I don’t remember seeing one while on safari in Uganda, but we were lucky enough to spot two of them this time. 

The first cheetah we saw was laying under a tree. 

We sat and watched this sleepy cat for a while, then we drove off and had quite a time watching for other animals for a couple of hours. On our way back out of the camp for the night, this slumbering cheetah was still laying under the very same tree.

The next day we saw a different (I am assuming) cheetah in a rather enjoyable (to watch) predicament. The cheetah was clearly on the hunt, but had his lunch snatched up by a nearby roaming lion. Apparently it is quite common for a cheetah to do the hard work of hunting down potential prey, only to have their hard work go to nothing when a lion shows up to finish the job. 

We never got to see the cheetah run, but we did watch as it passed by the trail right in front of us. Unfortunately, it was still moving too quickly for me to get the crisp photo that I was hoping for—but I’ll keep working on it. Maybe next time…

Did you know:

Cheetahs are the fastest land animal in the world. I think most people know this, or have heard this, but have you ever considered just how crazy fast they are?! Cheetahs can go from 0 to 60 Mph in just 3-seconds! That is faster than most high performance sports cars!

While running at top speed, a cheetah’s stride can be up to 23 feet! They spend most of their time almost floating above the ground. 

Cheetahs have smaller-than-normal heads and ears, and larger-than-normal tails (compared to other cats). Their head and ears are smaller for aerodynamics purposes, allowing them to cut through the air like a bullet. Their large tail acts as a sort of rudder, helping them to “steer” in mid air so they can quickly change direction and corner their prey.

While they are super fast, they cannot maintain that speed for a long time. Once engaged in a high-speed chase, if they don’t catch their prey within 1 minute, they will typically just give up and stop to rest.

It is estimated that up to 10% of their kills get abandoned due to the looming threat of larger predators. Once a cheetah makes a kill, they immediately pull it into a secluded spot and eat quickly. Cheetahs will often try to hunt during the heat of the day, while larger predators are sleeping, so they have a better chance of keeping their kill.

Like the common house cat, and unlike the lion, cheetahs cannot roar. The most aggressive noise they can make is a purr.

The average cheetah has between 2,000 and 3,000 spots!