THANDA – Page 103 – Christian Sperka Photography

2013-03-262013-03-26

Always carry …

… not a gun, but a point and shoot camera.

This young female Leopard was standing in the road when I drove towards the Thanda Royal Private Villa. She was curious and waited for me to get closer. She then turned around and walked in front of me for a while before she disappeared into the bush.

I was glad that I always have a point and shoot camera with me, so I got some pictures. Not the greatest quality, but it is evidence 🙂

What a sighting!

… and here is a short video of the young Leopard : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWBd7Ml9moI

2013-03-23

Welcome home!

The Thanda guests on today’s evening game drive were a bit intimidated and very impressed, but really loved the encounter with one of our two 40-45 year old Elephant bulls.

He gave me a few head shakes as a greeting after my absence on a trails guiding course. What a welcome!

2013-03-09

Concentration!

This Lion cub was concentrating hard on the “toy-stick”. He got so upset with the branch that he even used his claws!

Have a good weekend and relax 🙂

2013-03-05

Unusual Sightings

On the last day of our work cycle we had some unusual sightings. The Thanda guests on today’s morning game drive enjoyed a Spotted Hyena crossing the savanna in full daylight (a very rare occurrence).

We caught a glimpse of a young Leopard before it retreated into very thick bush and …

… we ended the game drive with an unusual view of the Elephant herd on the side of a hill, on which we cannot drive with our vehicles.

We also saw Cheetahs, a White Rhino, Giraffes and a Yellow-billed Kite on the same drive. A great morning!

After a very long work cycle (26 instead of 21 days) I will now be off for eight days before I leave for another “Trails Guiding Contact Session Course” with African Nature Training – ANT (www.africanaturetraining.co.za) in the Sabi Sands. I will return to Thanda on 24 March.

There will be fewer blogs during this time, but look out for the unusual ones 🙂

2013-03-04

Not your best day!

Imagine you are a Lion!

You are feeding on a Zebra kill and you had already a lot to eat. So it is a bit hard to move with your full belly. And just as you feel ready for a snooze a herd of Buffalo is crashing the dinner site of your family. They chase all of you around a bit.

You climb a tree and find out that the tree you chose was not high enough.

You growl at the Buffalo and they get even more agitated than they already were.

At the right moment you jump out of the tree and you flee to the next tree.

There you wait until the annoying bulls and cows are gone.

Only then can you re-join your other eight family members (coming down from other trees) to continue the meal and the now well deserved snooze.

Not your best day!

A very special sighting at Thanda Private Game Reserve 🙂

2013-03-03

Heart Rate!

It is always an unexpected thrill when Lions pass within hands reach of the vehicle. All nine Lions of the Thanda North Pride were walking along the northern fence line when we had this beautiful encounter.

The Thanda guests on this morning game drive loved it, even if their heart rate was up a bit 🙂

Below is the Thanda North Pride “Organization Chart”!

2013-03-02

Cheetah kill

This was the first time that I saw our two male Cheetahs on a kill. They often hunt in very thick areas and only appear once they are well fed, far away from the actual kill. On this occasion they brought down a baby Zebra on the savanna. In this picture one of the brothers is keeping watch while the other one still feeds on the carcass.

Cheetahs eat incredibly fast because they often loose their kill to larger predators.

They can “stuff” themselves to the point they have difficulties moving – except when motivated by an approaching Lion :-).

The Zebra’s mother was still looking and calling for her calf when we arrived at the scene. A wound on her back showed that she had recently survived a Lion attack. And now she lost her new-born calf to the Cheetah. Let’s hope she survives her injury and that she will be able to have another calf.

2013-03-01

Keen and not willing!

Well, this Thanda Cape Buffalo bull was very keen to mate with one of the cows. But she not was not very willing to oblige 🙂

He chased her all over the place, up a hill, down a hill and even straight through a waterhole. At the end she fended off the unwelcome attention successfully.

Have a good weekend!

2013-02-27

Morning Drink Stop

We had a great game drive this morning. After tracking for less than half an hour we found the breeding herd of Elephants feeding in thick bush. We watched them crossing the road in front of us and thought they might go to drink at a nearby waterhole.

And we were right. The whole herd was having a drink. The first picture shows the Thanda matriarch (she has no tusks) with another adult cow, one older calf and the two youngest members of the herd.

The next picture shows one of our oldest bulls drinking (he is currently in musth as indicated by the back legs wet from dribbling urine and the running glands on his head).

The third picture shows him on the opposite side of the waterhole (I prefer this distance for a musth bull 🙂

The herd is very protective of their young. In the last picture you can see on of the little ones “disappearing” between the females.

We finished off this Thanda morning game drive with coffee and cookies in the bush!

2013-02-26

Outside the house!

When I lived in the USA and in Europe I used to see children playing outside my front door, I saw joggers on their morning runs and dog owners out on a stroll. Occasionally a car came by and if I was very lucky when I got to see a bird from time to time.

My front door view has changed 🙂

I regularly see Giraffe, Buffalo, Elephants, Rhinos and many different other species around the house. Today the Thanda North Pride of Lions walked by the garden fence.

I saw the young mother with her cubs and our juvenile male at the fence. The other four Lions were already resting under a Fever Tree near by.

What a place to live!