Zambia: Chillin' With The Cheetahs

After our walk with the lions came the part of our day that Jason had been waiting for the entire trip: CHEETAHS!*

*It should be noted that they are kindred spirits in regards to: incredible bursts of energy, running and/or leaping skills, and small, buzz cut-type heads. :) 

Unlike our lion experience, we were not able to walk or interact with the adult cheetahs quite as intimately. They were in a large pen that we were led into by our guide. 

There were three cats in total but only one took kindly to human touch. His name was King Solomon and he was super friendly. 

We approached him one by one and got the chance to really give him a good pat. While we were cautioned against touching the lion's heads, this particular cheetah loved getting a good scratch behind the ears.

His fur was super coarse and wiry. The coolest part was feeling his body rumble as he let out loud purring sounds. He clearly loved the attention!

King Solomon, stretched out & relaxing in the shade

Jason's big moment!! He was so pumped!

Trying to pet the cheetah while also avoiding a Britney Spears-esque "flash" to the camera -- haha!

After spending some time with King Solomon, we walked around the pen to see the other two cats. 

We spotted one off to the back of the cage but the real excitement was when we spotted (pun intended) the third cheetah laying under a few bushes towards the pen's entrance. 

Our guide warned us that this particular cat was known for being aggressive and unfriendly towards humans as he wasn't raised around people. 

No kidding! The minute we approached him, the cheetah let out a low growl. 

It only escalated from there. 

Our guide kept pushing towards him, shoving Kern's camera in his face and I could barely watch. 

My hands were over my eyes and Sarah and I were practically holding onto one another as this cheetah hissed and bared its teeth. He was pissed. Yeeesh!!

Our guide tries to wave off the cheetah's intense displays of anger, but I think that only angered even more!

Look at the size of those teeth!! Wow. 

We left the cheetah pen on a decidedly high-strung note (or at least I was pretty amped up) following the "grumpy" cheetah encounter, so the prospect of moving on to play with little cheetahs cubs was greatly welcomed!

Our visit with the little babies in their play area was so, so amazing. It was incredibly interactive. 

We got to sit down with them, let them lay across our laps, "kiss" our hands (their tongues felt exactly like sandpaper!), have them crawl all over us... it would be difficult to pin down a highlight of the day, but I think our time spent with these babies comes pretty close!

Aaron and his new best buddy -- this little guy gave him so many kisses and lots of amazing photos!

Jason and Sarah hanging out with two cubs in the grass

Hmmmm... which pair of friends are cuter?? Tough call :) 

Aaron getting kisses whilst getting up close and personal with his camera & another cub

It was so neat hang out so casually with the young cheetahs -- they interacted like overgrown housecats! 

You could literally just pick them up and plop them down on your lap for a cuddle 

Leah holds out her hand out for a few sandpaper licks :) 

Overall, we had about 30 mins with these guys. I'm not sure we were supposed to be in there that long, but our guides were awesome and I think they could see how much we were enjoying our visit. 

My trip to Zambia certainly fulfilled my dreams of interacting with African animals. Between the time spent with the elephants, the lions, and the cheetahs (not to mention all the giraffes, monkeys, and zebras on the grounds of our hotel!), I couldn't have asked for a more enriching experience. 

Memories to last a lifetime, that's for sure.