Male Giraffes are often sparring (a “not serious” fight for training).
Today we watched two bulls fighting for real. The impact of the skull (ossicones) onto the opponents body sounded very painful.
Green!
I have promised to post some pictures of Thanda after the recent rains.
These three pictures of Giraffes on the savanna, a White Rhino on a grassy hill top and an Elephant bull in between Fever trees show Thanda animals in their “new juicy” environment.
Have a good weekend!
PS: If you are wondering why most of the Giraffe stare in the same direction. They were watching two Cheetah males lying under a tree :-).
A Game Drive in Pictures!
This is the picture story of today’s evening game drive.
After leaving the camp we first encountered Giraffes with Oxpeckers on them.
We moved on to view a large group of Zebra.
Then we spotted an Elephant bull while we were looking for …
… the herd of Buffalo. The volunteers on my vehicle were most impressed when we were surrounded by one of the “Big Five”.
And while we were viewing the Buffalo we heard about a Cheetah sighting at a waterhole nearby.
After the Cheetah left we stayed until the sun was gone to take a few beautiful pictures of the sunset over the dam.
Another hard day in Africa 🙂
Reflection
Today’s picture was actually taken two days ago. I like the reflection in the ripples of the water.
I was not driving today (Office work and cleaning my Land Rover!). Tonight I will be meeting some of my friends from Panthera on Phinda Private Game Reserve 🙂
Have a good week!
Giraffe and Cheetah
Day 2 of driving the photography volunteers was great!
In this picture five of the volunteers are taking pictures of a Giraffe bull (we were in a Buffalo sighting at the time :-). My colleague Simo is driving the Land Rover in the picture. The other five volunteers were in my car.
In the afternoon I took a picture of a male Cheetah. He was resting with his brother in the shade of a tree on the savanna.
Enjoy the pictures!
A journey of Giraffe – From my “open air office”
Today to got my Land Rover Defender assigned to me, my real “open air office”. Thanda 3 is not a new Landi, but he has a lot of character 🙂
I took him for the first drive this afternoon (to start learning the roads) and I ran into a large group of Giraffe. Looking at the picture above it is no wonder that a group of Giraffe is called a Journey of Giraffe.
The two pictures below are of one of Giraffe in the evening sun and Thanda3 in front of Thanda House.
Enjoy the pictures!
A Room with a View …
Yesterday and today I moved all my stuff into Thanda House. The office is still a “work in process”, but here are a view pictures of my room at the house.
It is certainly a room with a view. The picture with the Giraffe and my car was taken from my front door 🙂
More to come …
PS: The Journey of Giraffe was made up of 18 animals – adults and youngsters!
Funny Giraffes
Just for a bit of a laugh 🙂
I took these funny Giraffe pictures during a backstage session at Nashville Zoo at Grassmere.
I thought might enjoy these images of Layla and Congo.
Picture of the Week 48 – Tallest
This week’s picture of a South African Giraffes was taken at Kings Camp, Timbavati Game Reserve, South Africa.
Enjoy the picture!
For more Giraffe pictures go to www.sperka.biz/giraffe (Wild South African Giraffes) or www.sperka.biz/giraffes (Masai Giraffes at the Nashville Zoo)
About Giraffes:
The Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is the tallest of all land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant. Its scientific name refers to its irregular patches of color on a light background, which bear a vague resemblance to a Leopard’s spots, and its face, which is similar to that of a camel. In addition to these features, the Giraffe is noted for its extremely long neck and legs and prominent horns. It stands 5–6 m (16–20 ft) tall and has an average weight of 1,200 kg (2,600 lb) for males and 830 kilograms (1,800 lb) for females.
It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest relative, the Okapi. Different authorities have recognized different numbers of subspecies, differentiated by size, coloration, coat pattern and range. Up to nine subspecies are recognized:
G. c. angolensis (Smoky or Angolan)
G. c. antiquorum (Kordofan)
G. c. camelopardalis (Nubian)
G. c. giraffa (South African)
G. c. peralta (West African)
G. c. reticulata (Reticulated or Somali)
G. c. rothschildi (Rothchild)
G. c. thornicrofti (Thornicroft or Rhodesian)
G. c. tippelskirchi (Massai)
My pictures are mainly of South African Giraffes (www.sperka.biz/giraffe) and of Masai Giraffes(www.sperka.biz/giraffes).
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 