There are approximately 400 hundred cheetahs living inside the 350 sq. mile expanse of Kruger National Park. Contrast that with over 100,000 impalas. On our first day out, a pack of four cheetahs casually sloped across the road so close to our Land Rover that if we'd dared to hang an arm down outside the door, we could have grazed our fingertips along their backs. After they'd drifted away, we knew how special this sighting was when our guide started up the truck, crying out, "That was excellent!" his voice brimming with pleasure. Two days later we met a woman who'd worked in the park for three years and she said she'd never once since a cheetah. These elegant predators are valued there almost as much as we treasure these photos and those fleeting moments on an African morning when you could see moisture on the big cat's velvet noses and faintly breathe their scent.