Category: CHRISTIAN SPERKA PHOTOGRAPHY

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Close on Horse!

It is hard to believe to see how close the riders can get to Giraffe, Zebra and many other antelopes on Pakamisa Game Reserve.

I am spending three days of my “off time” at the reserve taking images of the lodge, the reserve and the beautiful horses on their game trails.

For me it is the second time on Pakamisa, but I certainly will be back. Horseback safaris are a great addition to a South African safari experience as they provide very close encounters in an area without dangerous game.

Have a look at Pakamisa’s website: http://www.pakamisa.co.za

PS: Unfortunately I cannot ride the Arab Horses at Pakamisa 😦 My portly figure is a bit to heavy for these beautiful creatures :-), so I took these pictures from a game vehicle.

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Qualified :-)

I am now a qualified “Backup Trails Guide”. I have just received the certificate from FGASA (Field Guide Association of South Africa).

I have also passed my “Advanced Rifle Handling” course and once my rifle competency is registered with the South African Police I can start walking with clients in areas with “potential dangerous game”

The next step is to log another hundred hours of walking and another fifty encounters before I can be assessed as Lead Trails Guide. This will take quite a while.

Have a good week – mine is already very good 🙂

PS: The picture shows me walking as Trails Guide during my recent course – Picture: Craig Fitt – Thanks

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PAKAMISA and Back to Work!

Well, I thought seven days off is a lot of time. Not so!

I was busy with all kinds of things – but with very little wildlife. My car got its first (10,000km) service, I started the process to get a South African Driver’s license (back to driving school :-)), went to the dentist, and … and … and …

But, yesterday I got a bit of a break. I spent a night in a beautiful game reserve, specializing on horseback safaris. Its name is Pakamisa, which means “lift up” in Zulu. The lodge is located on top of a mountain near Pongola. Isabella Stepski (In the picture with one of her Arabian Horses) has created this very special place in Zululand.

Well, don’t laugh, but the horses are not strong enough for a portly gentlemen like me (the rider weight limit is 90kg=200lbs), but I still enjoyed my stay very much. The weather was bad – it rained very hard – but we still went for a short game drive and had a look at the scenery and at the stables with over 30 horses (the picture shows one of the Horses with one of the free roaming Ostriches on the property).

Even if you have never been on horseback before, this special type of safari is a great addition to the traditional “big five game reserve” experience. I will certainly be back to take pictures in better weather :-). Have a look at Pakamisa’s website www.pakamisa.com!

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Hidden Treasures

This afternoon – after coming back from town –  I started working through the pictures I took during my trip to Mpumalanga.

And I found a hidden treasure – the first picture is of a Grey Heron flying building material to its nest and the second is of one of its chicks. It was a very special sighting at Lake Panic – Kruger National Park – and I had forgotten all about it.

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The Last Walk!

Goodbye Mpumalanga!

The last few days were very busy and I had no time to blog, but now I am back on Thanda. And it is hard to believe it is the same place. The recent rains have turned the place green, as you will be able to see in up-coming pictures.

But today I post the last pictures from my recent trip. The first is a picture of a African Goshawk who was – sitting in a tree – giving us the farewell from Nkombe camp.

The second is a collage of my last walk on Sabi Sands. For part of the walk I was in the lead guide and we encountered two Elephant bulls and a male White Rhino.

I enjoyed all my courses very much, but I am glad to be home 🙂

PS: The pictures in the collage were taken by Craig Fitt and Ross Hawkins – As I was walking Lead or Backup with a rifle I was not able to take pictures – Thanks for letting me use them.

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Buffalo – up close and personal!

Today we had three encounters on foot with male Cape Buffalo. They can be extremely dangerous and aggressive. We got proof of that today!

The first encounter was with two quite calm animals (the one in this picture).

Then we “bumped” into another bull only 15 meters away from us. He took flight and we extracted to a save location. On the way back to the camp another group of “Dugga Boys” spotted us and chased us across a dry riverbed. We had to take a longer route to get back to the camp. Enough Buffalo for one day – up close and personal!

There are no picture from encounters two and three. We were busy dealing with the situation and with getting back in one piece to the camp – no time for pictures 🙂

PS: If you like to know more about the Trails Guiding Course go to http://www.africanaturetraining.co.za. A great experience, even if you do it for fun and not for professional reasons.

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Almost mating!

It was a rainy day today and the morning started with a walk in cold and wet conditions. We heard a pair of Leopards mating. So we fetched a game viewing vehicle to have a look at the mating pair (as it is not a good idea to view mating Leopards on foot :-)).

We watched them for quite a while. The female was quite eager, but the male was not interested at the time. He was just grooming himself intensively. The short video shows a mating attempt initiated by the female. It was the first time that I saw a male and female Leopard together in the wild.

PS: I only had my “Point and Shoot” camera with me on the walk, so the picture and video are not SLR quality, but I thought some of you might enjoy the experience.

 

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Ticks and Trails

It is good to be back at ANT Nkombe camp at Sabi Sans Game Reserve. I am a bit tired after my first three walks, but we had already three dangerous game encounters (2xRhino, 1xElephant). This morning I was walking as backup guide. Ross (the lead guide) and me – under Andre’s guidance – brought everyone home safely :-).

On the way we encountered a very dangerous species. A Bont Tick! I had tick bite fever already a few times before and I hope not to get it again (it is no fun :-)). But I admit that – looking at the macro picture – it is an interesting little creature.

The picture below shows Andre and Graham during one of our Rhino approaches.

PS: If you like to know more about the Trails Guiding Course go to http://www.africanaturetraining.co.za. A great experience, even if you do it for fun and not for professional reasons.

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Pied Kingfisher

This morning I spent a few hours at Panic Dam in the Kruger National Park, before the start of second Trails Guiding Course in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve.

My favorite picture of the day is of a Pied Kingfisher taking a bath. I also caught him with a fish in his beak.

It was great to spend a few hours at the hide without rushing around and without assessments 🙂

I will be very busy the next few days preparing for my theoretical trails guiding exam. So there may not be as many blog messages as usual until next week.

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Cobras, Pythons, Boomslangs and Mambas

I had a very exciting day and I am very happy that I got my snake handling competency certificate. This morning started with working on various staged situations where I had to remove snakes from various places (Gardens, rooms and trees).

The first snake was a Puff Adder, followed by two Snouted Cobras and two very fast Mozambique Spitting Cobras (I had to catch these on the run!). In the afternoon I learned how to catch African Rock Pythons and how to get a Boomslang and a Black Mamba out of a tree.

One of the Khamai staff members took a few pictures of me working with the Python, the Boomslang and the Mamba (see below). In an assessment at the end of the course I had to capture two snakes (a Puff Adder and a Snouted Cobra) from a garden shed. I passed the assessment! I learned a lot and I hope that I will be able to help with needed snake captures once I am back in Kwazulu Natal. It was an excellent course.

 

 

Pictures (2): African Rock Python Capture

 

 

Picture: Boomslang Handling

 

 

Picture: Black Mamba Capture from a Tree

For more information on about reptile and snake handling courses go to www.khamai.co.za.

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