Walking With Cheetahs: An Unexpected Recognition from Reject Average Magazine
There are some moments in the tourism industry that are carefully planned. Others happen completely unexpectedly, and become stories worth telling. For Elephant and Cheetah Experience, our feature in the Summer 2026 edition of Reject Average Magazine was one of those moments.
The story began with a group of friends who booked our Cheetah Walk and arrived as regular guests. They participated in the experience without announcing any special connection to the magazine or revealing that among them was Brant, the founder of Reject Average Magazine. Brant describes Reject Average as a magazine for “experience collectors” a publication built around discovering destinations, stays and adventures that are genuinely worth people’s time. That philosophy made the eventual recognition particularly meaningful.
An Experience Like Any Other Guest
On the day of their visit, the group was guided by Reason, one of our seasoned professional guides, who was on duty alongside our experienced cheetah handlers Thomas, Whiskey, Blessing and Absolom. The group spent time with our two cheetah conservation ambassadors, Zuva, a male cheetah, and Nicky, a female cheetah. As they interacted with the cheetahs, the visitors captured moments of their experience on their phones simply documenting what they were seeing and feeling in the moment.
One of those moments captured Zuva sitting in front of Brant, while Nicky lay nearby in the same frame. It was an intimate glimpse into the unique experience that our Cheetah Walk offers: the opportunity to observe these remarkable animals at close range while learning more about them and their conservation.
At the time, we had no idea that the people experiencing the activity would later tell this story to a much wider audience.
Then Came the Surprise
After their visit, we continued with our work, completely unaware that the experience had made such an impression. We were therefore genuinely surprised when we received an email from Reject Average informing us that our elephant and cheetah walk experience had been selected for the Top 10 section of their Summer 2026 issue. The magazine explained that its features focus on experiences that the team has personally experienced, tested or carefully selected for its readers.
For us, this made the recognition even more special. It wasn’t simply a listing submitted for consideration. They had come, experienced the activity themselves and then independently decided that it was an experience worth sharing with their readers.
“Walking With Cheetahs — Zimbabwe”
In the Summer 2026 issue, Elephant and Cheetah Experience was featured under the title:
WALKING WITH CHEETAHS — ZIMBABWE
The magazine wrote:
“Cheetahs carry the same reputation as lions and leopards, and that reputation is wrong. They are the most cat-like of all the big cats, right down to the purring. In Zimbabwe you can walk beside wild cheetahs who genuinely enjoy being in your proximity. You sit next to them, and feel them lean into you the way a house cat does when it’s decided you’re acceptable. The speed and power you know they possess makes the gentleness even more striking. You spend the entire time grinning.”
Reject Average Magazine, Summer 2026
Those words capture something that is difficult to explain until you have experienced it yourself. Cheetahs are renowned for their extraordinary speed and athletic ability, but spending time in their presence reveals another side of these remarkable animals. Their gentleness, curiosity and individual personalities can make the experience feel unexpectedly intimate. And that is precisely what makes walking alongside them so memorable.
For Elephant and Cheetah Experience, this recognition is more than simply seeing our name in a magazine. It is an acknowledgement of the work of our guides, handlers and conservation team who create these experiences every day. From Reason guiding the group, to Thomas, Whiskey, Blessing and Absolom working alongside him, the experience reflects the dedication of the people behind every Cheetah Walk.
It is also a celebration of Zuva and Nicky, our cheetah conservation ambassadors, whose presence allows visitors to develop a deeper appreciation for these extraordinary animals. Most importantly, it is an opportunity to showcase Zimbabwe as a destination for meaningful and unforgettable wildlife encounters.
We never knew that Brant and his friends were going to become storytellers for our experience. They arrived as guests, experienced the Cheetah Walk like everyone else, captured their own memories and left. We only discovered later that they had chosen to share that experience with the world. And for that, we are incredibly grateful.
Thank you to Reject Average Magazine for experiencing the Cheetah Walk for yourselves and for selecting Elephant and Cheetah Experience among your Top 10 Best Animal Encounters in the Summer 2026 edition.
Sometimes, the best stories are the ones you don’t know are being written.
