Travel Designers Located beside the town of Craddock the Zebra National Park offers the opportunity for a self game drive and guided drives. Accommodation is available at the park including small self-catering chalets and camping areas for those looking for a true outdoor experience.
Our game drive today is in search of Cheetahs which consists of a drive in the National Park then on foot to get up close to the animals. There is a short briefing on what to expect and everyone is checked for the correct attire. Which should consist of long trousers, warm fleece and or jacket and thick-soled walking boots. The latter is important as the terrain is uneven with small rocks so you do need support to your ankle and foot.
The National Park is vast and covers a terrain of over 284 km2 and is home to a wide range of animals, including 9 Cheetahs that we are going to try and track down. Our guide uses a radio with attachable aerial to pick up the signal of the tagged Cheetahs. As we drive through the park we climb to high points and admire the views of the plains below and weave our way across the terrain until we find a strong signal.
We park up and head off on foot to explore further and after a 45-minute walk we come across an ostrich sitting on a nest. The ostrich is more surprised than us as it jumps up and runs off leaving its eggs, we count 16 in total all still warm and pretty heavy to hold, which we are allowed to do with guidance from our ranger.
As we walk on further we find the remains of a fresh kill and hope that the Cheetahs are nearby. The guides think that the kill happened maybe 3 hours earlier and already the jackals have been and the Crowes’s are circling. He hopes that the Cheetahs have found a spot nearby to sleep off their feed. After a further 30 minutes of walking in the surrounding area, we find two Cheetahs under a tree.
These animals are beautiful, like big cats lean and content from their morning feed. We are safe to stand close by and watch them. Taking pictures and admiring their beauty.
After 30 minutes or so we walk back to our jeep and head back to the base camp. A successful sighting of Cheetahs and of course as we drive around the Zebra National Park we see many other animals such as Springbok,