I am on a jeep safari in Africa. For me it doesn't get any better. The place is Serengeti, the plains of northwest Tanzania. My three fellow photographers and I are accompanied by Doug Cheeseman of California, friend, guide extraordinaire, and world-class expert on Africa. After all, he's been here 58 times. It's his favorite place in the world too, along with everywhere else he's been. We're on the move at daybreak, when the animals are active and the light is magic for us discriminating photographers.

We aren't far from our camp at Ndutu when we spot these two cheetah beauties, yawning, stretching, and dozing. Not exactly the stuff of great adventure photography, but the ever optimistic Doug wants to wait. He has a feeling the pair will mate at any minute. So we wait. And we wait. For hours. Nothing! Everyone but Doug is disgruntled. He assures us our patience will be rewarded. We shrug our shoulders and feign submissiveness. After all he is the expert. (next photo)