Turn back the clock with good-news conservation

Beauty and sense of solitude and space which only the plains and mountains of the Karoo offer

- Brendan Seery

Tracker Kevin Simon, on the "jump seat" at the front of the game drive vehicle, is waving the antenna back and forth trying to get a bearing on an elusive female cheetah who wears a collar tracking device.

But it is an ancient bush indicator which grabs the attention of guide Roelof Wiesner as he scans the bush on the edge of the southern plain of the Samara Game Reserve.

He's looking at a giraffe - with long neck and amazing eyesight, it's a much better antenna - it can pick up something out of the ordinary where we humans notice nothing.

The giraffe, one of the most curious creatures on the Eastern Cape reserve, is not looking at us; it is focused on a patch of small bushes and grass close to an open area.

But it's not our target cheetah, as Roelof soon points out - it's a young lioness, almost completely hidden in the foliage.

"In the bush, you need to look at the reactions of other animals, because they might tell you where to find what you're looking for," says Roelof.

But the star of today's drive - a three-year-old female cheetah introduced to the reserve from elsewhere - is soon found, along with her litter of five cubs, all born at Samara.

They're having brunch, which appears to be a luckless Springbok.

Bellies full, it's soon time to act the fool, as youngsters everywhere do.

Momma, though, keeps a wary watch.

She knows there's a lion around and even though she and her brood could all easily outrun the supposed king of the jungle, it's not something any mother would be keen on.

Unusually, we get to watch this close up, from a distance of less than 20 metres, having walked in from the vehicle about 300 metres away.

"It's amazing how habituated they are to us.

They don't see us as a threat and nor does our presence change their behaviour.

Obviously, we have to be careful about getting into their personal space," says Roelof.