Colette's Grand Detour

Day 6 (2nd August 2025)

On our first trip out into the Maasai Mara we were so lucky to see three cheetah brothers who had just killed a wildebeest.  We missed the kill action itself, and as we arrived the first cheetah that we saw was taking a well-earned rest and catching his breath.  Initially we thought there was only 1 cheetah but he suddenly sat up and made a call and 2 more Cheetahs quickly appeared who had been hiding in the grass.  Their faces were covered in blood from when they had made the kill. 

Then they started tearing into the carcass, always with 1 of the brothers on watch for any unwanted visitors such as lions who might steal their kill.  Animals always go for the intestines first as this is the part of the body that will rot the quickest and needs to be eaten immediately.  They will then move on to the soft organ tissue, with the liver and heart having the most nutrition for them and finally they will eat the rest of the meat.  Eventually leaving the carcass for hyenas and vultures to pick over.   It took them longer than I expected to gain access to the internal organs and we were close enough to hear the crunching of bone and cartilage as they ripped into the animal.  Occasionally they would lift their heads, blood dripping from their jaws or swap around who was eating and who was keeping watch.

Incredible sight and we were so lucky that our driver Joseph is very experienced and knows where is best to position the vehicle for the best views.  Word spread quickly that the cheetah brothers had been spotted and more and more land cruisers full of people and cameras arrived.  Generally the drivers are very conscientious of everyone, adjusting their vehicles every so often so that no one’s view was blocked and each vehicle had a good angle to watch. 

We stayed for about 40 minutes.  A bucket list item ticked off.