CHRISTIAN SPERKA PHOTOGRAPHY – Page 91 – Christian Sperka Photography

2019-12-22

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2020

Dear Friends,

2019 was a good year for me. I got my permanent residence permit for South Africa in June. My Thanda Cats book got published in December. Many friends from all over the world visited me at Thanda. I was able to organize support for many underprivileged kids in rural Zululand. I got to help many people improving their wildlife photography, no matter if it was with a smart phone or an expensive DSLR. And, last but ot least, I spend many hours in the bush to capture the beauty of nature with my cameras.

I am looking forward to 2020 which is starting with a special trip to Europe. For January I got an invitation from very kind friends to visit their photography exhibition in Brussels, Belgium. This will also give me the opportunity to visit my family and meet up with some of my friends in Germany and Switzerland. And many more interesting projects will come throughout the year. A highlight will be my trip to Europe in April to visit my family and celebrate my mum’s 80th birthday.

I will be working (and posting) at Thanda Safari until 29 December. As last year I will spend the days over New Years at Pakamisa, which will be my 60th! stay at this beautiful place. In the first week of January I will depart for Europe.

On this 4th advent Sunday, I would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2020. Thanks for all your interest in my wildlife post throughout the year.

Enjoy your Holidays!

2019-12-18

BIRD WEDNESDAY – SECRETARYBIRD

Unlike most birds of prey, the Secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is hunting its prey on foot, usually in pairs, stalking through the habitat with long strides.

Their prey consists of reptiles, insects, small mammals, birds and the occasional carrion.

They are well known for their ability to catch and kill snakes, even venomous ones!

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography

2019-12-13

MAMMAL FRIDAY – SOUTH AFRICAN GIRAFFE

A newborn South African Giraffe is ~1.8m (~6ft) tall. After a few hours of birth, the calf can run and is almost indistinguishable from a one-week-old.

Mothers with calves will often gather in nursery herds. In such a groups they may sometimes leave their calves with one female while they forage and drink elsewhere. This is known as a “calving pool”.

Have a pleasant weekend!

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari @thandasafari

2019-12-112020-04-08

BIRD WEDNESDAY – AFRICAN FISH EAGLE

Fish for lunch?

This *African Fish Eagle* caught his meal just in front of our boat.

For many people its distinctive and shrill cry represents the true spirit of Africa. This magnificent creature appears in the coat of arms of Namibia, Zambia, and South Sudan, as well as on the flags of Zimbabwe and Zambia.

And just in case you wondered: African Fish Eagles are related to the North American Bald Eagle and look quite alike, but they are two different species in the same genus.

They are both considered sea eagles not true eagles.

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography

2019-12-09

ECTOTHERM MONDAY – African Giant Land Snail

Outside its native range it thrives in areas with mild climates. It can cause severe damage to agricultural crops and native plants. This snail is listed as one of the top invasive species in the world.

The African Giant Land Snail is also a simultaneous hermaphrodite (being male and female at the same time). Snails of similar size can transfer sperm both ways when mating (bilateral mating). If the the two mating partners are of different size then the larger specimen acts as female and the smaller as male (unilaterally mating).

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography

2019-10-13

INKANYISO CRECHE UPDATE

Please note: Follow the Inkanyiso Creche on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/inkanyisocreche/

The kids at the crèche had a great time since they returned from their holidays.

As they arrived back they encountered their new jungle gym. What a success! Every morning there is now a small stampede – once the crèche gates open – to get to the slides, swings and climbs.

And now they get every morning a bowl of flavored porridge with full cream milk to get them ready for the day.

But the best thing that happened last week was that Olivia joined Lungy (our crèche teacher) to help her teaching the kids. Olivia is an Australian primary school teacher who signed up as an Ulwazi volunteer (Ulwazi is Thanda Safari’s volunteer organization). She and her boyfriend Will, who is also a teacher, are in South Africa for four weeks to work with us at Thanda. Will is a very talented photographer (@willkentphotography) and works as my assistant for four weeks. If our ‘photo work schedule’ permits he also spends time with the kids at the crèche.

Lungy benefits greatly from learning modern teaching methods and how to use resources to provide a stimulating environment for the kids. It is very encouraging to see these two young people from overseas investing their time to help our rural communities.

I hope you will enjoy these few pictures from this exciting week! More updates about the next projects will come soon!

My heartfelt thanks to all friends of the Inkanyiso Crèche around the world who enable us with their donations to help these children.

Thanda Safari guests and followers on social media often ask about the possibility to help with donations. For more information contact me at christian@sperka.com.

Any donation – small or large – helps to make the life of these little ones a bit better.

Picture credits: Will Kent, Justin Van Doorene, Christian Sperka

#inkanyisocreche @inkanyisocreche #ulwaziresearch @ulwaziresearch #christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari @thandasafari

2019-09-152019-09-15

Imagine! Four nights Custom Luxury Safari at Thanda Safari – Day 4

Back on Thanda! Day 4 was another productive day with great sightings. The highlights of the day were two male Lions at sunrise on a newley burned area and a herd of more than 120 Cape Buffalo drinking at a waterhole as the sun set.

Feel free to ask any questions (as comments) or contact me at christian@sperka.com.

A Hyena greeted us at the start of our morning drive …

One of Thanda Safari’s Two Male Coalition …

A Lilac-breasted Roller on a power line …

Egyptian Geese in between Cape Buffalos …

Picture of the day: Male Lion on newly burned area …

Major sightings:

⁃ Spotted Hyena

⁃ Cape Buffalo

⁃ Lion

– Giraffe

⁃ … and many more mammal and bird species

Previous blogs:

https://sperka.info/2019/09/11/imagine-four-nights-custom-luxury-safari-at-thanda-safari-day-1/

https://sperka.info/2019/09/12/imagine-four-nights-at-thanda-safari-day-2/

https://sperka.info/2019/09/13/imagine-four-nights-custom-luxury-safari-at-thanda-safari-day-3/

This a series of posts to document all drives and excursions during a four day stay at Thanda Safari. I hosted two guests from Germany on a Private Photo Safari with me as the guide, Bheki as the tracker and the Green Mamba 1 as the Luxury Safari Vehicle.

2019-09-132019-09-13

Imagine! Four nights Custom Luxury Safari at Thanda Safari – Day 3

For day 3 of our safari experience an all-day excursion into iSimangaliso Wetland Park was on the schedule. After a morning Hippo and Croc Cruise on Lake St.Lucia and lunch at the Ski-Boat-Club – overlooking the estuary and the sand-dunes of the Indian Ocean – we returned through the western shores part of the park to Thanda Safari.

Feel free to ask any questions (as comments) or contact me at christian@sperka.com.

Hippo and Croc Cruise with Shakabarker – briefing before departure …

Hippos out of the water during the day – a rare sighting …

A lunch with a view – Flamingos on the estuary and the Indian Ocean …

Uninvited lunch guest …

The rain bird was calling – Burchell’s Coucal …

Major sightings:

⁃ Hippo

⁃ Crocodile

⁃ African Fish Eagle

⁃ Waterbuck

⁃ Reedbuck

⁃ Bushbuck

⁃ Giraffe

⁃ Kudu

⁃ Wildebeest

⁃ Zebra

⁃ Saddle-bilked Stork

⁃ Brown-headed Snake Eagle

⁃ Long-crested Eagle

⁃ Burchell’s Coucal

⁃ … and many more birds

Previous blogs:

https://sperka.info/2019/09/11/imagine-four-nights-custom-luxury-safari-at-thanda-safari-day-1/

https://sperka.info/2019/09/12/imagine-four-nights-at-thanda-safari-day-2/

2019-09-122019-09-12

Imagine! Four nights at Thanda Safari – Day 2

Getting up at 5:30 is a bit hard if one is not used to it. But if the weather is good, the luck on one’s side, going on an early game drive is very rewarding.

Day 2 of our safari experience could be called the Elephant Day! We had two excellent sightings with two different herds. But many other species were seen as well!

Feel free to ask any questions (as comments) or contact me at christian@sperka.com.

Leaving the comfortable Tent at 5:30 is hard …

… but being rewarded with a White Rhino sighting after tracking them for a short while made it worth while.

Encountering a female Cheetah hunting on the way to an Elephant sighting …

The first Elephant sighting of the day …

Giraffe and Oxpecker – a symbiotic relationship …

There are no better Elephant sightings as when they are seen at a water hole.

A Scrub Hare sighting during the day is rather rare …

… and we ended the day as we followed two Lionesses on our way back to the Thanda Tented Camp

Major sightings:

⁃ Elephants

⁃ White Rhinos

⁃ Lionesses

⁃ Kudu

⁃ Cheetah female

⁃ Burchell’s Zebra

⁃ Red-billed Oxpecker

⁃ Scrub Hare

⁃ … and many more general game species and birds

This one of a series of posts to document all drives and excursions during a four day stay at Thanda Safari. I hosted two guests from Germany on a Private Photo Safari with me as the guide, Bheki as the tracker and the Green Mamba 1 as the Luxury Safari Vehicle.

Imagine! Four nights Custom Luxury Safari at Thanda Safari – Day 1

This is the start of a series of posts to document all drives and excursions during a four day stay at Thanda Safari. I hosted two guests from Germany on a Private Photo Safari with me as the guide, Bheki as the tracker and the Green Mamba 1 as the Luxury Safari Vehicle. The next five posts are a visual record of the great sightings and interesting experiences the guests had during their stay.

Feel free to ask any questions (as comments) or contact me at christian@sperka.com.

Enjoy the images!

Day 1 – Arrival and Frist Game Drive