THANDA – Page 86 – Christian Sperka Photography

2014-07-10

Fine Dining – Rough Dining!

Tonight the guests at Thanda’s Villa iZulu had just finished a delicious dinner and we were still sitting around the dinner table when a high screeching sound cut into the conversation. After a few seconds of stunned silence we rushed outside onto the observation deck to see what happened.

At the small waterhole in front of Villa iZulu a pack of Hyenas had just killed an Nyala antelope bull. Illuminated by a floodlight more than ten of these strong carnivores where fighting over the kill and started having their rough dinner!

We all agreed that this was certainly one of the most fascinating and memorable dinner of our lives!

The picture shows a few of the Hyenas on the kill in front of the illuminated Villa iZulu.

2014-07-05

One of those days!

It was a windy winter’s day with a lot of the animals hiding in the thick bush. We drove and tracked for over two hours before we found the breeding herd of Elephants. They also had decided to feed in a very dense area and we only caught occasional glimpses. When we were about to leave the sighting, to find a nice location for our drinks stop at sunset, a dozen Elephants crossed the road right in front of us. What a sighting!

It was one of those days, which needed patience for a long time and which ended with a big reward for not giving up!

The picture above shows one of the youngsters waving his trunk before it disappeared after his mum into the bush. The picture below shows the group walking past the vehicle.

2014-07-04

Winter Colors!

Flowering Mountain Aloes on the rolling hills of Zululand are a beautiful sign for the winter time. As all the brown tones replace the vivid greens of summer these stunning plants provide color to the dry season landscape. Looking over one of the many Thanda valleys with Mountain Aloes – while enjoying a hot chocolate at sunrise or a gin&tonic at sunset – is one of the lasting memories for many of our guests.

About …
Aloe marlothii (Mountain Aloes) are large, single-stemmed Southern African aloes of rocky places and open flat country. In full flower they present a magnificent spectacle. The flower colour ranges from yellow through orange to bright red. Flowering takes place through the winter months, as is the case with most aloes.

2014-07-03

Lion Family Life – A short video :-)

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Lion Family Life!

During this morning’s drive we spotted a Lioness with her small cubs along the road. She was leading us directly to a Wildebeest kill. The Lions had taken down the antelope only a few minutes before we arrived.

We observed the two Lionesses and their six cubs (three cubs approx 1.5 month old and three cubs approx 2.5 month old) while they had their relaxed meal. The little ones were eating and playing at the same time.

The cubs’ dad, Thanda’s dominant male, had obviously eaten before. He had a full belly and just watched his family having their feast. After a while he joined them without feeding, just to play with the kids 🙂

Warren Beets – Thanda’s Reserve Manager – was with me on the vehicle and as he had the better view from his position he operated the camera from time to time – Great job!

Lion Family Life – Enjoy the pictures!

Mum and her three cubs

An anxious look

The signs of a good meal

Resting on the kill

It is all mine 🙂

Cubs (2.5 month old and 1.5 month old)

Dad watching the scene

A bloody affair

2014-06-30

Should we move?

It is a very thrilling experience for many guests when a breeding herd of Elephants walks towards the vehicle.

And as a guide one sometimes hears a timid voice from the back asking “Should we move now?”

And the answer is …

… it depends. Thanda’s experienced guides and trackers know when to move and when to stay. In this case there was plenty space for the Elephants and all of them were very relaxed as they moved past the vehicle. So the guests were able to enjoy a close encounter with these gentle giants.

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Clean-up Crew!

Hyena are one of the most fascinating mammal species to observe . They are an important part of the bush clean-up crew and play a vital role in the circle of life.

With their grinning smiles and their awkward walking style (their very strong front legs are longer than the back legs) they are often disliked by many people.

But in this picture one of Thanda’s Spotted Hyenas shows itself from its “cute side” 🙂

2014-05-08

28mm

Sometimes pictures tell an exciting story. So do these!

They were taken with a 28mm (wide-angle) lens and not cropped.

Our oldest North Pride Lioness had decided to walk up to our vehicle and she had first a good look at me (picture below) and then at the guests behind me (picture above). My instruction to hold still and not move was followed without any discussion :-).

As she was in touching distance I took the picture above without moving the camera and without looking through the viewfinder (hence the funny composition). Nevertheless I thought many of you might enjoy this awesome predator’s look.

If you are interested why we were not in danger during the encounter with this dangerous cat go to https://sperka.info/why/.

2014-05-01

Not only milk!

Our little Lion cubs have graduated to meat dishes 🙂

Their mum – Thanda North Pride’s oldest Lioness – had caught a Warthog for dinner. As the sun set she moved the kill into a thicket not far from one of Thanda’s main roads. And as the light fated she fetched her little ones for dinner.

The image above shows one of the youngsters with a red nose from enjoying one of its first meat meals.

The collage below shows a small Lions’ feeding frenzy, a watchful mum and another on of the cubs showing some interest in my clicking camera.

What a sighting!

And this last collage shows the young Lions two weeks ago venturing very close to the game viewer before their mum led them away into the bush.

Pictures (1-4) by Christian Sperka

Pictures (5-9) by Bheki Ngubane – Senior Tracker – Thanda Private Game Reserve

2014-04-26

The other four …

And these are the other four of the Ugly Five …

…. Warthog, Hyena, Marabou Stork and Vulture. An exclusive and pretty ugly club!

The fifth Ugly One is the Wildebeest (see blog https://sperka.info/2014/04/24/the-ugly-five/)