Author: Christian Sperka

Christian Sperka is a wildlife photographer based at Thanda Private Game Reserve, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. Over the last 11 years, Christian has traveled the world photographing animals in wild game reserves of South Africa and Namibia, the jungles of Costa Rica, in Yellowstone National Park in the USA, as well as zoos in Europe and the United States. His work has been featured in wildlife magazines, in books and in many zoo publications. He actively supports wild cat conservation, working as a partner photographer for Panthera, the world's leading organization devoted to the conservation of all wild cat species (panthera.org). From 2009 to 2012 he has worked as the official photographer and photography teacher at Nashville Zoo at Grassmere, Tennessee, USA (nashvillezoo.org). Christian is also a qualified South African field guide. He now works as specialist photography guide on Thanda Private Game Reserve in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa (thanda.com).
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Horses | Birds | Wildlife | Food | Beautiful Place | Pakamisa!

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I spent another five very enjoyable days at Pakamisa Private Game Reserve and did quite a bit of photography work.

These are only a few of the images I took during my stay!

Photo shooting Arabian Horses,20150701 - CS3_4870 - P 2

… taking images of riders cantering on the reserve,20150702 - CS2_4878 - P

… capturing birds in Pakamisa’s beautiful gardens,20150703 - CS1_5280 - P

… working with Pakamisa’s kitchen team on pictures for new menu items,20150701 - CS2_4514 - P

… photographing wildlife on game drives and20150703 - CS1_5291 - P

…. last but not least capturing the beauty of Pakamisa itself.20150703 - CS2_5238 - P

Thanda (my South African work place and home) and Pakamisa are my two favorite places in Africa!

For more information on Pakamisa go to www.pakamisa.com.

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Five+

What a morning!

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It happens quite often that Thanda guests can experience more than one of the Big Five during a single game drive.

But it is a very rare treat when all five of Africa’s most famous animals make their appearance within a single 3.5 hours drive.

Today was such a day. During this morning’s drive we had an excellent sighting with a few Elephant bulls, watched five young Lions waiting for their mothers’ return from a hunt, spotted three Black Rhinos on an open savanna area, observed a large herd of Cape Buffalo grazing and then – most spectacular of all – surprised a beautiful male Leopard on our way back to Thanda’s Villa iZulu.

It is hard to believe that we also saw Giraffes, Nyalas, Impalas, Warthogs, Wildebeests, Zebras, Yellow-billed Hornbills, Cape Glossy Starlings, Red-billed Oxpeckers and a Brown-hooded Kingfisher on the same drive.

This collage shows six images taken…

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A Cold Winter Morning, a Hippo Island and a Slender Rarity

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Yesterday I went to Nsumo Pan at Mkhuze Game Reserve. I wanted to evaluate if this large pan system with its well positioned hides is a good place for excursions with Thanda’s ‘serious photographer’ guests.

Judge for yourself!

I enjoyed the seven hours photo session which included a lot of water birds, a Hippo mum with her small calf out of the water, an African Jacana which used a Hippo as a mid-pan-island, and a Slender Mongoose posing for the camera (a very rare sighting).

In connection with the khMasinga hide (I will post some recent images from this hide, soon) I think this natural pan will work well for ‘serious photography’ guests as long as they have a 500mm+ lens and if they are also interested in birds. For birding enthusiasts it is a paradise – even without pictures.

Enjoy the gallery!

African Fish Eagle
Nyalas on the opposite bank
Morning snooze …

In case you are interested here all the 27 different species I have seen on that day:
Hippos * | African Fish-Eagle * | African Openbill | Spur-winged Goose * | Egyptian Goose * | Nyala * | Impala | Blue Wildebeest | African Darter | African Jacana * | Nile Crocodile | Black-winged Stilt * | Brown-hooded | Kingfisher * | Warthog | Pink-backed Pelican * | Great White Pelican * | Red Duicker | Cattle Egret |Great Egret | Grey Heron | Red-billed Teal | Greater Flamingo | Water Monitor * | Terrapin | African Spoonbill | Slender Mongoose * | Goliath Heron * | * = good photographic condition/distance

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Sunlight!

A lucky moment 🙂

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This Thanda Leopard was enjoying the warming afternoon sun on a cool winter day. Leopards are very shy cats which usually do not like to be seen during the day. But this beautiful male made an exception to this rule to collect the last afternoon sun-rays before moving off into the thick bush.

What a sighting!

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Pictures by Christian Sperka – Specialist Photography Guide and Resident Wildlife Photographer – Thanda Private Game Reserve

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12:36 – A new Giraffe is born!

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Thanda’s youngest Giraffe calf was born today at precisely 12:36.

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Members of the Thanda Wildlife Team observed the birth of the young boy and stayed with him and his mum until he was ready to walk properly. It took over four hours from the first appearance of the legs until his 1.80m fall into life. After he hit the ground it took him thirty minutes before he raised his head and it took another 1.5 hours before he made his first successful attempts to stand. As soon as he was firmly on his feet he started looking for milk and –  after a short search – he found mum’s teats. To bond with him and to clean him Mum licked the little one with her long, rough tongue. For the actual birth (from the appearance of his head to his fall to the ground) his mum was hiding behind a thicket. There…

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In just one day …

During my last time off-work I spent one day in KwaZulu Natal’s most famous National Park, the Hluhluwe-Imfolzi Game Reserve.

I packed all my long lenses, as animals in National Parks are often further away then on Thanda, where we can drive off-road to get closer. In a National Park one has to stay on the roads. The day turned out to be very windy, so I saw almost no general game and very few birds. But most of the “big ones” made their appearance.

Just after I entered the park I drove by a Lion kill sighting (in the thick bush off the road), just as a White Rhino walked by. A herd of Cape Buffalo stared at me near Hilltop Camp as I passed quite close to them. I had many White Rhino sightings (with a lot of ticks on all the Rhinos :-)). Two Elephant bulls strolled up a hillside far away (work for my 500mm lens!) and finally I got to see a few Impalas.

As the sun started to set I watched a Baboon family at their daily grooming ritual and then took a few scenery sunset shots before I left the park.

All in all a productive and relaxing day, despite the wind. I hope you will enjoy this online-image-gallery!

Baboons’ Cleaning Ritual
Rhino, Lion and Park Visitors
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Colors!

In the animal kingdom there are many colors. And birds provide some of the most beautiful examples of a multi-color-display.

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This Gwala-Gwala (Purple-crested Turaco) shows fluorescent greens and purple combined with the most stunning crimson under the wings.

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Another one of my favorites!

 

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Route 66

It was an interesting drive from the Indian Ocean up the Zululand Heritage Route 66 to the Swaziland Border.

I had not chosen the best day for the drive as some of the heritage sites were closed on Saturdays, but it was still a worthwhile experience. I will be back on a weekday to look at the sites I have missed this time.

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After my visit to Amatigulu Game Reserve and a canoe tour on the Amatigulu river’s estuary (I will blog about that visit in a few days) I drove to the town of Eshowe …

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There I had a quick look at the Fort Nongqayi Museum Village and …

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…I took a long walk into Dlinza Forest Nature Reserve with its aerial boardwalk. It was rather late in the afternoon and I did not see a lot of birds, but I still enjoyed the walk in the forest.

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I stayed overnight at Eshowe Guest House, which can only be recommended for any stay in Eshowe.

The next day I continued north passing Melmoth to the Ophathe Game Reserve, which was also closed – nobody at the gate :-(.

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On my way to Ulundi I crossed the White Mfolozi River and then…

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…. I stopped at the Battle of Ulundi Memorial. It commemorates the last battle in the Anglo Zulu War of 1879. This battle effectively ended the rule of King Cetshwayo and the independence of the Zulu kingdom. I was very keen to visit the KwaZulu Cultural History Museum in Ulundi – which includes Ondini, a recreation of King Cetshwayo’s residence – but it was not open on weekends 😦

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Pushing north I crossed the Black Mfolozi River and drove into Nongoma, the Royal Capital of Zululand. The Royal Family including King Zwelithini lives there in no less than six royal residences in and around the town. It was the busiest Zululand country town I have experienced so far :-). It took me over twenty minutes to cross the center of town – people, cars, cows everywhere …!

My road map showed the complete route 66 being a tar-road. But that must have been wishful thinking on the map maker’s part. For quite a stretch the road was rough gravel and I was glad that my Toyota Fortuner handles these sort of roads well.

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I encounter many cows on route, all but one of them alive :-). And as I was driving during the day it was no problem to drive around those slow and rather stupid creatures!

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In afternoon I arrived at Pakamisa Game Reserve (near Pongola) and enjoyed a beautiful evening overlooking the Rolling Hills of Zululand.

All in all these were two excellent days. Learning more about Zululand, the people and the history helps me to be a better guide!

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