giraffe – Page 9 – Christian Sperka Photography

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Looking good!

Well, you can attribute the title of this blog either to me, Badger (the horse I am riding), the Giraffe lady (with her admirer) or the fast growing Ostriches on Pakamisa :-). Have a look at all the images!

I am spending again a few of my off-days relaxing at Pakamisa (in very hot weather!)

Badger and me (with my special safari hat :-). Picture by Isabella Stepski

A lady (left) and her admirer.

Small no longer. Pakamisa’s Ostrich chicks with their mum in the middle.

This young Ostrich was observed by one of Pakamisa’s mares as it moved towards the stables for its evening dinner!

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Watch her!

It is not easy to get prey and predator into the same picture, unless on occasions when one is eating the other :-).

But on this evening a Thanda North Pride Lioness was resting on a waterhole wall as a Giraffe female kept an eye on her; both in the right position for a great photo opportunity. After a while the Lioness walked off in one direction and the Giraffe the opposite way.

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A heron, a band of mongoose and the king of Pakamisa

Sometimes a drive from the Pakamisa lodge to the horse stables can turn into a nice game drive. I first encountered a band of mongoose running across the road and I managed to take a picture as they quickly disappeared into thick bush.

Then I had my first ever sighting of a Black-headed Heron perching on of the stable fences.

And last but not least we encountered a beautiful, dark and very large male Giraffe. His name is Rufus and he is considered the king of Pakamisa 🙂

2014-07-31

A Thanda Sunrise! – No words needed :-)

2014-07-18

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!

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An Elderly Lady!

This elderly Giraffe lady had a good look at this “noisy animal” before she decided to move off into the bush following the rest of her Journey (Journey is the proper term for a group of Giraffe).

Giraffes are one of the Thanda game drive favorites, especially for younger children, who seem to have a special place in their heart for these long-necked, gentle creatures.

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A Pakamisa Weekend!

I spent another great weekend at Pakamisa. This very special Private Game Reserve combines five star luxury with horseback safari. It is one of my favorite places in South Africa.

Above is a picture from today’s photo shoot. The aim was to get a good image of riders on Horses, close to Giraffes. Mission accomplished 🙂

Isabella Stepski (the owner of Pakamisa) took this funny picture of Slinky, me and Bully on our way to the horse photo shoot and she also captured me on Badger, doing some “horse-back photography”.

And I love this image of the riders returning to the stables at sunset.

Another very enjoyable Pakamisa weekend! www.pakamisa.co.za

2014-03-03

Smooth and Rough – Female and Male!

I recently took these images of a female and a male Giraffe on Thanda. Without looking at the rest of the animals it is quite clear which one is the male and which is the female.

Smooth lines and hairs on top of the ossicones (the horn-like extensions of the skull) define the female head. A rough outline with many calluses from fighting other males and being bold on top of the ossicones shows a distinctly male head.

So, when looking trough binoculars and seeing only the head of a Giraffe sticking out from the trees, it is quite easy to tell what gender animal it is!

2013-10-26

Strange Encounter!

At the small waterhole in front of Thanda’s Villa iZulu a Spotted Hyena and a journey of Southern Giraffe met and interacted for almost an hour. This image shows Bheki in between the actors in this early morning drama.

… The Hyena had come to the waterhole when the Giraffe interrupted its morning drink…

… It moved off when the tallest land mammals came in to have their drink …

… But not far – at one time the carnivore ventured almost to “kicking distance” …

… We left after watching this scene for almost an hour – On the way back to Thanda’s Safari Lodge we ran into an Elephant road block. The matriarch was having an eye on us while we followed the herd slowly until they made their way through the bush to another waterhole. What a morning!

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Pole Position

From time to time Bheki gives up his tracker seat on the front of our game viewer to one of the Thanda guests.

It is a very special experience seeing the animals from a tracker’s perspective and trying to find tracks along the road.

In this picture a guest from France enjoyed observing a Giraffe male from his “pole position” 🙂