She stood up, stretched, sat on her haunches and sniffed the air. Meanwhile, her cubs, which had been cavorting around playing catch with each other, stopped their games and lay still in the grass.
The female cheetah was ready to hunt and had spotted an impala separated from the herd on one of the many huge plains in Shamwari game reserve in the eastern Cape.
Minutes before, game ranger and guide Sean van Zyl, had exposed us to the cheetah and her cubs. But, as soon as he noticed her stir and sniff the air, he rapidly moved us to higher ground so we could observe a hunt without disturbing any game.
An excited Norwegian visitor and a first-time visitor to Africa exclaimed: "This is real Africa and it is so quiet." We all felt the same as the tension grew on the huge plain far below us.
The cheetah moved rapidly, eyes and senses locked on the lone impala. A short trot closer then back down in a crouch. Seconds later, she again moved forward and again ended in a crouch.
Then, along came a spoilsport of a crow, squawking and performing while flying over the cheetah. The impala was alerted and became really skittish and, finally, after much nervous decision-making, called to the herd and moved out of range.
The hunt was over but fortunately not the Shamwari experience. I had booked for a two-night stay at Bayethe tented camp in the northern section of the reserve, as it was the chance to enjoy a bush experience on this vast 25 000ha reserve close to the small towns of Alicedale and Paterson about 90km from Port Elizabeth.
During the drive in we passed Sidbury Cricket Club - the oldest in the country founded on May 1, 1843 - and, I believe, still in operation.
My tent which, in true fashion, should rather have been called a large luxury area under thatch that merely has canvas sides. It even had its own small plunge pool on the deck and a delightful outdoor shower, as well as air-conditioning and, for whatever crazy reason, a TV.
I can only imagine how the luxury tented accommodation at Bayethe must astound the average overseas visitor arriving in Africa, who possibly thought they were going to rough it like hunters do on the Discovery channel.
And, if they really wanted to go upmarket they could still choose from four other lodges offering solid hotel-type accommodation, including a lodge aimed at families with children of any age.
We all gathered in the lodge's dining area at 4pm where we were briefed by Sean then bundled into an open-safari vehicle for our first three-hour stint in the reserve. Naturally the overseas contingent wanted to see the Big Five as fast as possible.
We dropped down into a small river crossing and all held our breath as the stench in the area was overpowering. A kill, announced Shaun. It was the smell of the contents of a herbivore and as we climbed out of the dip there he was, a magnificent young male lion just leaving his kill for a rest out in the open.
He relaxed metres from the vehicle grooming himself and the cameras were all abuzz. A couple from the UK, who have travelled the world extensively, were definitely impressed. They had never seen such a variety of animals in the correct natural habitat, in their lives.
We left the contented lion to groom himself and moved on. We had travelled less than a kilometre when we encountered another huge, fully developed male who definitely ruled that part of the reserve.
He was the dominant male in the area and his stance let all know this. He rested, in all his glory, observing his kingdom through extremely heavy eyes. Then he gave out a roar that shook the vehicle.
We moved on, passing many species of antelope and finally caught up with a cheetah resting on a large open plain. Again, cameras buzzed away. Sean led us in single file across to the cheetah until we were about 30m from her. We were over the moon.
On the way back to Bayethe, we stopped on a high ridge overlooking the rolling valleys and, while the sun dipped below the horizon, refreshments flowed. What a spectacular end to another day in Africa. We were not only impressed but highly satisfied with what Sean had managed to achieve in one game drive.
We all gathered for pre-dinner drinks in the boma to discuss our day extensively, questioning Sean on a host of topics. The following morning I opted for a walking tour in order to really get close.
The lodges offer this facility and I was lucky enough to go out at first light with Graham Murray leading, with Johan Jacobs - JJ to all - and Conrad Muller. All three are well-versed rangers.
Our first close encounter was with a large female warthog which came bounding out of her burrow quickly followed by five little ones. They charged off like express trains while we sauntered over to sniff the burrow.
It is important, when tracking, to take everything into account, from the smells, the animal's droppings, which tell many tales, the spoor indicating numbers and direction and whether the animals are relaxed or stressed.
Very wet elephant droppings usually indicate a stressed herd and therefore should be avoided. A few minutes later, JJ had us on our knees inspecting an ants nest and pointed out the workers and soldiers all equipped with a pointed needle on their snouts.
They are into chemical warfare and squirt their enemy with the poison, which smells like pepper. Conrad, who can identify most plants and describe their attributes, also had us feeling, sniffing and in some instances tasting plants.
We followed a ridge, dropped down into a deep valley home to a myriad yellowwood trees and paused, holding our breath as a black rhino or elephant munched away in the dense bush.
We tracked, picked up spoor then lost it again but after three hours had not come face to face with any of the big five. However, we did see a crowned eagle with her nest and a collection of monkey bones under its tree.
The crowned eagle's main diet consists of vervet monkeys. The eagles hunt in mating pairs and while the one flies high to attract the monkeys' attention the other flies behind and plucks one out of the trees. We also spotted a beautiful golden orb weaver spider resplendent in her web.
There were no adrenalin-pumping encounters but a full morning of interesting sightings. Shamwari has a ranger training school where many people go for their initial training before writing their entrance exam. Interested visitors are invited to join in and get to grips with what a ranger needs to learn before entering the industry.
Our game drive on the second afternoon yielded by far the best results and we were bowled over with the sightings. We drove into the southern section and once off the hills and on a large flat plain could hardly believe the diversity of animals. Within a few minutes, we encountered a black rhino feeding in a dense thicket.
Not far off the cameras clicked as we stopped in front of an extremely playful herd of young zebra. Red hartebeest, springbok, oryx, black wildebeest, elephant, white rhino and giraffe littered the plains.
Then, to crown the experience, we had a close encounter, with a mother-and-daughter pair of black rhino. Here was one of the most endangered and belligerent members of the Big Five. Black rhino are highly unpredictable and charge anything close to them.
Fortunately, we got our photographs with no incident. All we now had to spot to complete the Big Five count was leopard and buffalo. Unfortunately, animals are totally unpredictable and you are extremely lucky when, on a reserve for only two days, to see all the species.
The final visit I made while at Shamwari was to the animal health centre where Dr Johan Joubert heads up a team that tends to all the health issues of the vast herds.
At present the centre is home to Themba the baby elephant, who was orphaned when his mother fell and died. Themba was carefully monitored to see if he would suckle another female but it failed. He was then moved to Shamwari and the hard task began to keep him alive, with the final plan to move him back into the wild again.
Eventually, the staff found the right milk formula and he started to drink, and Themba has never looked back. Today, his keepers look after him 24 hours a day - one of the staff even sleeps with him - and he is flourishing.
Included among his friends is Edward the sheep. The two have bonded and can be seen together on their walks with their handler. Themba is a great drawcard and children cannot help falling in love with him, especially if given the chance to hold the full bucket of milk for him to drain at feeding time.
- Shamwari is situated close to Paterson and Alicedale in the Eastern Cape, about 90km from Port Elizabeth. It offers six different lodges and Bayethe is the only tented bushcamp The reserve is child-friendly and welcomes families. Special children's programmes are available at Riverdene. The area is malaria free. Activities include game drives, walking safaris and visits to the animal care centre, as well as learning to be a game ranger. There is also an opportunity to visit the Born Free lion and cat centre.
For details, call 041 407 1000 or email [email protected] or visit www.mantiscollection.com