My 2014 Instagram Image Collage. What a year!
PS: I only started Instagram in September and I used a few older images to get it going 🙂 But I like the collage!
A relaxing day!
For some people a relaxing day means sitting comfortably at home and reading a book or watching a movie. For some it means to go window-shopping at a large mall. Others would like nothing better than to go to a pub or working out at a gym.
Well, my idea of a relaxing day is to pack a cooler box with drinks and food, fetch all my camera equipment, my binoculars and my bird book (=iPad) and install myself at a hide on a waterhole at a game reserve.
That is what I did on Christmas day.
While listening to a good audio book I took images of many different animals coming to the water. For most of the day 11! Rhinos kept me company. While other nature enthusiasts where coming and going I stayed for the whole day at the hide.
And these are sixteen of the pictures I took during this most relaxing day!
Eleven | White Rhinos having a “cool” day a the waterhole
Danger | A Wildebeest calf getting kicked by Zebras as it mingled with the wrong crowd
Bathing | Pygmy Kingfisher having a bath
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Ngikufisela uKhisimusi oMuhle noNyaka oMusha o Nempumelelo
I wish all my friends around the world a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2015!
With my very best wishes from South Africa – Christian
PS: The holiday greetings above are in isiZulu!
Morning drinks!
Thanda’s North Pride of Lions having a drink at a waterhole last Sunday morning. One of my favorite images of 2014!
Buzzing!
This Red-billed Oxpecker – while sitting on a Cape Buffalo – was indulging himself on ticks with hundreds of Flies buzzing around its head. I like this image, which I shot this morning on my way back from the Thanda Tented Camp to Thanda House.
Enjoy more of my images on Instagram! If you are using a smartphone and if you are on Instagram (Instagram is an App for your smartphone) you can find me under christiansperkaphotography. Most of the images I post on Instagram will be different from the ones on my Blog, Facebook and Google+ and usually come with very little text :-). Enjoy them!
PS: All Instagram posts will also be shared on Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr – just in case you would like to follow me there!
Pakamisa’s Horses
I really enjoyed taking these images 🙂 – Pakamisa horses portrait shoot – December 2014 – Please note Badger (second row from the top – on the left), the horse which I ride during me regular visits to Pakamisa!
Pakamisa’s Horses – many of them were born at Pakamisa Farm!
Pictures by Christian Sperka Photography
Rovos Rail Ride 2015 – Official Photographer
For next year I had planned to spend three winter weeks exploring Kruger National Park. But this has to wait for another year.
I am now very much looking forward to two weeks on one of the world’s most luxurious trains. From 4 July to 14 July I will be joining the Rovos Rail Ride 2015 as the official photographer. This very special program uses the train as the basis for the worlds most luxurious mountain bike experience: 1569 Kilometers (=975 Miles), four countries (South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia) in six days!
For the first group of guests the six day trip starts in Pretoria (South Africa) and ends at the Victoria Falls (Livingstone/Zambia) and then the train moves back to Pretoria the same route with the second group. I am looking forward to the beautiful scenery along the way and to my first trip to the Victoria Falls.
For more information on the Rovos Rail Ride 2015 go to www.rovosrailride.com | For more information regarding Rovos Rail go to www.rovos.com
PS: As you might guess I will not be riding a mountain bike myself, I will be using four wheels for transport 🙂
Rosettes, Horns and a Gorgeous Bird!
Two amazing days at Thanda! Even our most frequent safari guests were very impressed when we had Leopard and Black Rhino sightings two days in a row.
After last night’s exciting encounters with a young Leopard and three relaxed Black Rhinos (a bit of a contradiction in terms :-)), we spotted a big Leopard male early this morning and then found a quite nervous Black Rhino bull (being nervous is more standard Black Rhino behavior).
But the most exciting sighting for our guests was a Gorgeous Bush Shrike. This very colorful bird is often heard, but seldom seen (especially in good photographic condition). So after six years in which our guests were tracking this species in many different places around South Africa, yesterday Bheki and I were able to show them this beautiful creature (and we even got some decent pictures).
PS: I should mention that during their two-nights stay our guests also saw Lions, Elephants, White Rhino, Cape Buffalo, Cheetah, Black-Backed Jackal, Giraffe, Zebra, Kudu, Nyala, Impala, Wildebeest, Warthog and many different bird species.
Young Male Leopard
Nervous Black Rhino Bull
Long Walk to Freedom
A great story …
Pakamisa has just released a male & a female serval on to the reserve. The two animals were donated by Durban’s centre for the rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW http://www.crowkzn.co.za). We are looking forward to spotting one of these beautiful creatures on our game drives.
These are a few pictures from delivery to release in October 2014.
The delivery vehicle!
Out of the transport box!
Close ups!
A shy gentleman!
This is the more adventurous lady!
Ready to go!
Successful walk into freedom!
