Walking and petting a cheetah in Zambia is one of the most unique things that I have done in my travels.
I heard about this opportunity while I was still in Asia and since then just couldn’t get it out of my head. I’ve played with tigers in Thailand and now I really wanted to walk this majestic animal!
When I arrived in Livingstone, I saw a poster about interacting with cheetahs and immediately wanted to find out more. So I got in touch with Mukuni Big 5, and since I had to leave the following day to Zimbabwe, they arranged for me to walk a cheetah that same day.
Cheetahs purr is much louder than cats and is similar to helicopter sound. They are very affectionate animals and to show it will lick anything in their way.
Because they are currently being bread in captivity they are very used to humans and are incredibly affectionate towards their keepers. Have said that, they’re still wild animals at heart.
The whole experience lasted about an hour, with the first 10min of introduction and instructions of how to approach the animal, how to stroke it and what’s not allowed. After brief intro I met my cheetah and spent rest of 45min talking to her, walking and petting. I won’t say I wasn’t nervous, after all these are the fastest animals in the world and with those razor sharp teeth… luckily she was in a good mood and enjoyed stroking. 
Graceful and elegant, beautiful and extremely fast, that’s how I would describe these amazing animals.
It is an expensive attraction but the whole experience is worth every penny.
Having been to roughly 45 countries now, it is one of my most precious experiences that I will always remember.
Have you ever came close to cheetah or other wild animal or maybe walked one?
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