Tears of the Cheetah

Day 25, 21.01.23, from Mata Mata to Twee Revieren

We pack everything in the morning and set off to Twee Revieren, the southern end of the park, with the sunrise. A herd of giraffes in the morning sun will be our first highlight as they march directly below the rising sun.

A short time later, at a waterhole, we spot two more cheetahs, one of them possibly pregnant. And if you look closely at this magnificent creature, you can see traces of tears on its face: "Why are there tears on the cheetah's face?" A Zulu story has the following answer (here told in short):

A cowardly hunter secretly stole a cheetah's cub. This broke the cheetah mother's heart - she cried and cried... An old man heard the cheetah's lament. He found out what had happened, retrieved the cheetah cub, and brought it back to its mother. However, the long crying had marked the cheetah's face, and therefore - say the Bushmen - cheetahs still bear traces of tears on their face to this day.

In reality, this unique characteristic has great advantages for cheetahs: since they mainly hunt during the day, unlike other big cats, the tear marks help to reflect the bright sunlight, making it easier for them to focus on their hunting and prey.

We enjoy this sight of the drinking cheetahs and find it difficult to leave this place. But when the two eventually leave as well, we continue our journey.

A few giraffes later (otherwise not much is happening this morning), we meet a German couple at a picnic spot. They travel the world in a specially converted Toyota off-road vehicle and are currently on their way through Namibia to South Africa, and then, in a few weeks, back to Namibia. After a shared breakfast, our paths diverge again. But we can continue to follow them on their website "endlich-on-tour.com".

In the late morning, we arrive at Twee Rivieren, but we still have to wait for our chalet to be ready and pass the time at the pool.

In the afternoon, we head out again on a short, but unfortunately somewhat disappointing tour, as there are hardly any animals on the Nossop side. And so we decide to do another tour the next morning.

We sit on the small terrace in front of our chalet, start another delicious braai, and enjoy another beautiful sunset. Until we realize that we are not alone again. But instead of a jackal, this time a wildcat visits us. It keeps us company during dinner until a sparkling starry sky lets us into the night.