Our young north pride male Lion participated in a Porcupine hunt. Inexperience and clumsiness resulted in two Porcupine quilts getting stuck in his mouth and chest. That hurt!
But he managed to get them out again. When we saw him two days later the quilts were gone 🙂
After two weeks of rain, wind and cold we had some great drives in the last few days.
During the bad weather it was very difficult to find animals. They all were hiding in the thick bush from heavy rains, very strong winds and many thunderstorms.
But this morning we got rewarded for our hard work and patience. When we left the lodge we spotted a Leopard just as we left (he did not stick around, but we got a good look). Then we met our dominate male Lion on to of a hill. We tracked our Buffalo herd and just as we left them we saw two White Rhinos (mother and daughter) in an open area. Before we headed back to the lodge we went to the area where we saw the breeding herd of Elephants last. We did not find them but we found one of our oldest Elephant bulls. After observing him for a while we turned back to the lodge.
We also saw Giraffe, Zebra, Impala, Nyala, Kudu, Waterbuck and Wildebeest.
It seemed that all the animals wanted to make an appearance after the long absence from the Safari stage 🙂
PS: All pictures above were taken today!
Today I got my Land Rover properly stuck for the first time. While we were trying to get close to a pride of Lions resting in thick bush I dropped my right back wheel into the entrance of an old Warthog borrow which was filled with water (it looked like a puddle!).
So Bheki and I got to work while are guests remained on the vehicle. In close proximity to the Lions we used a high-lift-jack to lift the car out of the hole, placed two special “mud-ramps” under the wheel and drove the car out of the hole. This was a first such rescue mission for me. The guest thought the procedure was very exciting.
So for today I have chosen a Lion picture (taken today – a cub hugging an adult’s tail for comfort) and a picture of two Warthogs (taken a while ago – two males fighting).
I have no pictures of the vehicle rescue (I was otherwise engaged at the time :-))
When I saw our Lion cubs last night I had a hard time to believe that they could grow that fast in only 10 days.
We spotted them on a Wildebeest kill last night and watched them this morning eating from the kill and having a refreshing drink from mum 🙂
Enjoy the pictures!
When I drove towards Thanda House this morning I saw a few yellowish spots in a tree, which we not there before.
When I came closer I was surprised to see Lions lounging in a tree next to the road. And I was even more surprised to not only see the juveniles in the tree, but also one of the big Lionesses.
I watched them for a while (and they me :-)) until they decided that it got too hot up there and they moved across the road into thick (and cool) bush.
It was as that they wanted to proof the point I made with a picture I published yesterday (Lions and Trees – https://christiansperka.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/lions-and-trees/).
It is often said that Lions only seldom climb trees.
In my experience it happens quite regular. Especially with cubs and juveniles. If one of the youngsters climbs a tree all the others usually have to follow :-).
And sometimes this can be quite amusing as the young males are usually much more clumsy at this than the females.
Have a great Sunday!
I was filing images today when I came across this one. I love the expression on the young Lion’s face. He had just finished eating on a Wildebeest kill.
Have a good Sunday!
Our four small Lion subs are growing up fast. But they are still the favorites for most of the Thanda guests 🙂
These are two pictures of our “Thanda Youngster” enjoying a drink. The mums patiently provide the milk.
The Elephant calf is two weeks old and the Lion cubs are about three month old.
Have a good week 🙂
Today I saw the new Lion cubs of the Thanda North Pride for the first time.
The first-time-mom allowed us a few minutes of looking at the four cubs before she led them into thick bush.
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 