No words needed – simply beautiful!
Two boys on the move!
These two male Cheetah were having a good look at the approaching Lions and then moved away very swiftly 🙂
A Rainbow over the Lebombo Mountains, a Road Block and two Freezing Cheetah!
As it happens during this time of the year strong winds frequently follow heavy rains. On our afternoon game drive we first encountered a beautiful rainbow over the Lebombo mountains, then we met with Thanda’s breeding herd of Elephants.
One of our largest bulls gave an excellent demonstration on “how to create a perfect road block”, right in front of the vehicle.
Last but not least Bheki – one of Thanda’s most experienced Zulu tracker – found the two Cheetah brothers on the open savannah. They were huddling together in the freezing wind.
Not a bad drive for a very windy day!
Operation Cheetah
Today we changed the radio collar on our Cheetah mum so that the Wildlife Team can continue to monitor her progress – I was allowed to be hands – on for a moment – Thanks to Warren for taking the picture 🙂
And this is a collage of the operation – before – during – after
Silly face and memorable moment!
Well, I usually try not to publish pictures of me making silly faces. But this one I have to post. While I was at a Cheetah interaction this week I tried to demonstrate to my guests how close you can get to these beautiful cats. But this Cheetah male decided I needed to be smacked for my daring. No harm done, but it was a great laugh for all the people watching.
A memorable moment with a silly face 🙂
PS: Thanks Grasie for taking this great picture – even with my silly face in it!
Gate guards and models!
The last few days I have been working in my office. Which is not bad, but not nearly as good as being out there on game drives. Even so, staying at Thanda house has its merits, too.
This morning our two male Cheetah came for a visit and acted as gate guards for a few hours.
They also posed as models 🙂
Yesterday, a journey of Giraffes and a dazzle of Zebras was grazing in front of the gate during midday.
And the day before our Elephants had a late afternoon drinking and bathing session at the waterhole on the south side of Thanda house.
So, my time at the office got interrupted by some of my “wild friends” offering good sightings!
Mother and Daughter!
This young Cheetah female stays very close to mum, whose tail provides comforting contact. A beautiful Thanda Cheetah sighting!
Welcome back!
We had not seen the Thanda Cheetah female and her cubs for quite a while. So it was exciting moment for the Thanda guests, the tracker and the guide when the Thanda Wildlife Management announced over the radio that the three Cheetah had been spotted.
When we arrived at the scene the female had just killed a baby Impala. Her two cubs – a boy and a girl – started feeding immediately while mum kept a watchful eye on the surrounding.
We stayed for almost an hour observing these beautiful cats.
The Cheetah mum catching an baby Impala.
The young boy is smacking his lips after a good meal.
The little girl is having a look at bird flying by.
Cheetah family assembled for breakfast.
They are well!
We saw the Thanda Cheetah mum today with her two cubs. Both of the cubs have grown a lot and are looking very healthy – they look like real Cheetah now 🙂 – What a sighting!
During the same game drive I got my first picture of a Pygmy Kingfisher and we had sightings of our two male Cheetah, three Lions and two Spotted Hyena feeding on a kill.
Cheetah at Lunch!
Thanda’s two male Cheetah killed a female Nyala. The pictures shows them right after they started their meal.
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 