THANDA – Page 91 – Christian Sperka Photography

2014-01-06

Night-drive sighting!

My guests enjoyed this very special sighting of a small insect. Skillfully light by Bheki’s spotlight I took this shot of a Katydid. To get a shot on eye level I had to stretch out on the ground. This picture is a prime example why “wildlife-eye-level-photography” is so important.

Picture by Christian Sperka – Specialist Photography Guide and Resident Wildlife Photographer – Thanda Private Game Reserve.
More about …

Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids or bush-crickets. There are more than 6,400 species. They are also known as long-horned grasshoppers, although they are more closely related to crickets than to any type of grasshopper. Many tettigoniids exhibit mimicry and camouflage, commonly with shapes and colors similar to leaves.

2014-01-05

Hunter or hunted?

We had some great sightings this morning – First a herd of Buffalo enjoying themselves at a Waterhole, then four Lions trying to hunt some Buffalo and finally three White Rhino enjoying the sun after a mud bath. The guests on my vehicle were especially impressed with the Lion-Buffalo interaction. It was not always clear who was the hunter, and who the hunted? The Lions gave up at the end and the Buffalo moved on.

At one time we could see all three “Big Five” species from one spot : looking to the left > the Lions / looking straight on > the Buffalo / looking to the right > the Rhinos. The three landscape images below were taken without moving the vehicle!

2014-01-03

Elbows and Knees!

This image, taken on one of my recent game drives with Thanda guests, shows clearly that Elephants have elbows on their front legs and knees on their back legs – just like us 🙂

On the same drive one of our large Elephant bulls appeared just next to us out of the bush. An exciting moment for the guests, not used to the sudden appearance of 6 ton animals. The bull calmly waited for us to get of the road so he could continue to strive in his planned direction – following the herd.

And one of the younger bulls demonstrated his ability to strip the nutrient-rich layer from underneath a tree’s bark, using his tusks and his trunk.

What a great Elephant sighting!

Pictures by Christian Sperka – Specialist Photography Guide and Resident Wildlife Photographer – Thanda Private Game Reserve.

2014-01-01

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014

I wish all my friends around the world a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014

Picture: The THANDA Elephant herd on the mountains in the western part of the reserve.

2013-12-31

Hope!

To see two White Rhinos mating is a very rare sighting for any safari guest – and also for a guide 🙂

Thanda guests were able to observe this pair of White Rhinos mating when the sun set on the day and on this year. Considering all the bad news about the number of Rhinos killed in 2013 this scene promises some good news of a future birth for this threatened species. With a gestation period of 16 month it will be 2015 when the new calf will be born at Thanda.

… chatting up – Rhino style …

… mounting – a difficult procedure …

… a lengthy process and a heavy burden …

… getting off – finally!

2013-12-30

Timo, Philip, Quinten – the small things and a rainy day!

Timo, Philip, Quinten – three young Thanda guests – had already seen Lions, Elephants, Rhinos, Buffalo, Giraffes and many other mammals on their first few game drives.

So, on this rainy summers day they set out with their parents, tracker and myself to find some other exciting Wildlife. And they had a great drive watching a Praying Mantis which jumped onto the vehicle …

… studying a Scorpion close up and …

… learn about many more “bush secrets”.

They enjoyed this “rainy weather & small things” drive as much as all the “big game” drives and will return to home and to their friends with many very special bush stories.

2013-12-282013-12-28

Rhinos in the Snow?

When one looks at this images one could think that these two White Rhinos are walking in the snow!

So I thought this makes for a nice Winter holiday images for all my friends on the northern hemisphere.

But, in reality the white stuff on the ground is ash from a bush fire. The Rhino mum and her calf enjoy rubbing their square lips in the ash – this makes them truly White Rhinos 🙂

Enjoy your Christmas/New Year holidays!

2013-12-26

Christmas Sightings!

The Thanda guests enjoyed great sightings over the Christmas holidays.

Two young Elephant bulls giving a sparring demonstration …

… a White Rhino mum and her son hosting an Oxpecker party …

… a young Kudu bull in front of a beautiful Thanda vista …

… and Thanda’s dominant male Lion smacking his lips after a big meal!

Happy Holidays!

Pictures by Christian Sperka – Specialist Photography Guide and Resident Wildlife Photographer – Thanda Private Game Reserve.

2013-12-21

Thanda’s New Website!

Thanda Private Game Reserve has a new website – and all wildlife images on the site are mine :-). In the last few weeks I have spend over 200 hours editing images and collages for this new site. Have a look!

This is the official announcement about the new site:

It has been a busy few months for us that end the year with a sparkling new website!

As part of our brand refresh, our newly designed website offers full mobile compatibility and works across all devices, platforms, social media and search engines. As with all websites, we will continue to fine-tune it, so if you have any comments or recommendations, please share them with us!

Furthermore we have taken some stunning new photography of the reserve and Thanda’s Safari Lodge, Tented Camp and Villa iZulu to really showcase our safari and wildlife experience, as well as our cultural heritage.

And that’s not it; there is also our new blog to look out for (www.thandablog.com) and so much more coming in the New Year – so stay tuned!

2013-12-19

Not bothered!

This was my favorite Leopard sighting since I started working at Thanda 18 month ago!

In the early morning hours we spotted this beautiful male Leopard lounging in a tree. He was quite relaxed, mustered us for a while, had a short nap, yawned a few times and then slowly disappeared into the bush.

The reason why all the Thanda guests on my vehicle, Bheki – my tracker – and I liked this sighting so much was because this magnificent cat was not bothered by our presence and did not react to us and our vehicle, even if he was clearly aware of us. Observing animals without interfering with their behavior – my favorite kind of sighting!