The Butlers at Varty Camp heard the alarm calls on the clearing opposite the deck; next thing they saw impala running in all directions. Something was amiss. They got on the radio and put out a message on the airwaves about what they had seen and heard. Lady luck shone down on me as I was a mere 2 minutes away…
Steered in by the shouting of impala, bushbuck, nyala and vervet monkeys we zoned in on the spot. Moments later we had the culprit in our view!
The realization of what we had just found took a few seconds to sink in… what we were looking at was a beautiful cheetah crouched over a young male impala. Teeth still buried into the unsuspecting prey. We must have missed the speedy chase by a mater of minutes, or even seconds, but I was delighted nonetheless in what we were looking at.
She rapidly tugged at the carcass trying to get it under cover… had she taken too long! Exhausted by the ordeal she could barely stand. She fed quickly trying to get in as much as she could before the swarming vultures caused a stir…
Written, photographed and filmed by Adam Bannister
Rich Laburn is filmmaker, photographer and writer who is based at Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa. Spending his time capturing scenes of the wild and communicating the beauty of the African bushveld, he runs the Londolozi Blog as a way to entertain and engage people wishing to visit these wild lands.
