If I had to sum up this experience in one phrase, it would be this: feeling like a part of the wild.
I’ve always felt a deep connection to animals, stronger than words, stronger than reason. So I set out to to see animals truly free: no fences, no rules, just nature’s raw unpredictability at the Maasai Mara Lion and Wildlife Conservation program in Kenya.
Each morning, my guide would grin and say, “Let’s see what nature gives us today.” And that was the thrill, you never knew what the wild had in store.
I had a mission: to see animals truly free. And while I love them all, cheetahs? They’ve always had my heart.
So, when we spotted a lone female, lean, focused, and hungry, I knew we were in for something unforgettable. She was on the hunt. And I was all in. We followed her like shadows, scanning the environment, adrenaline building with every silent step.
She failed once. Then again. I was rooting for her like my life depended on it. I didn’t care about the gazelles. That day, I was Team Cheetah.
Five hours in, just when doubt started creeping in, it happened. A gazelle wandered too far. The cheetah crouched low. In a heartbeat, she exploded forward, pure power and grace. My heart was racing with hers. She got it. Victory.
Until it didn’t.
We drove closer. The gazelle was still clinging to life, legs kicking, desperate. And just like that, my triumph turned to sorrow. I went from 100 to 0 in an instant. Joy collapsed into heartbreak. I felt everything, all at once.
That moment shattered me. I’d never felt something so beautiful and brutal in my life. The wild doesn’t sugarcoat existence. It shows you everything, raw and unfiltered.
Later, I thought of Mufasa’s lesson: the circle of life. And I realized, I had seen it. I had felt it. Life and death, so tightly intertwined, you can’t separate them.
That moment is etched into me. I’ll never forget it, and I don’t want to.
