Hi Steve - just to comment on your remark that you are not interested in reintroduced/rehabilitated animals......................
The reason that cheetah are hard to find is because there are not many of them left. They have been destroyed by stock farmers, which has gone hand in hand with habitat loss, and they are at the bottom of the carnivore pecking order, in that hyena, leopard and lion will all drive cheetah from a kill. In the case of lions they may attempt to kill the cheetah as well. Genetic studies of cheetah indicate that at some time in the past, the animal must have come close to extinction, for their genetic fingerprint is virtually identical - in other words, they all seem to be related to each other, which is what you would expect if the population had had to develop from a severely limited gene pool. This means that they do not breed very easily. Rehabilitation organisations are trying to rescue cheetah under threat from farmers, and relocate them where they can live a normal life, and also to improve the gene pool to increase breeding success. Far from being disinterested in them, you should give them your every support, for they are trying very hard to preserve the cheetah so that visitors like yourself can continue to appreciate this beautiful animal. You should look up Okonjima, for example, on the Net, and learn just what has to be done to help the cheetah and other threatened felines.
Go to Etosha by all means - but remember that concealment is the predator's stock in trade, and any sighting is a real bonus. I live in Africa, and have visited many wild areas, and have long since lost count of the number of times I have failed to see big cats. No-one can promise you a cheetah....the best you can do is to put yourself in the right place, and hope for a little bit of luck. I HAVE seen cheetah in Etosha - but it was sheer luck. We were watching some zebra when a mother with two cubs crossed the road behind us. And that is what most cat sightings are like. Good luck with your visit - maybe you too will get lucky.
Best wishes,
Dave Kennedy