When we were looking for Rhinos in the South of Thanda Private Game Reserve we came across some very rare guests.
A few Woodland Kingfisher were displaying to one another in the Fever Trees along the Mduna River.
A little later found a female White Rhinoceros and her calf and ended the game drive with gin&tonics – enjoying a beautiful summer evening in the bush!
The Thanda North Pride was not willing to move far of their Wildebeest kill when three White Rhinos moved through the area. The Rhinos investigated the kill while the Lions were watching closely. At one stage the Rhinos got too close for comfort and the Lions retreated (but not far :-)). One Lioness even “stalked” and “drove” the Rhinos to get them away from the kill. As soon as the large herbivores were gone the carnivores continued their meal.
I needed the wide-angle lens for most of the images, as it all happened very close to our game drive vehicle.
On the same game drive we saw a Black Rhino with their calf, newborn Helmeted Guinea fowl chicks and a Spotted Eagle Owl. What a day!
Watching White Rhino is amazing but it is much less exciting than watching a Black Rhino in its natural environment.
This is a picture I took today on our game drive. The Black Rhino and her calf had a good look at us before she decided to retreat into the bush.
Seeing Black! What a joy!
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!
You may never heard of the Mapogo Male Lion Coalition of the Sabi Sands. For years a six male coalition “ruled” the Lion prides in the Sabi Sands. Two of these (now ten year old) Lions are still alive. Today we found and walked these two legendary males. We took a direct approach in which we made sure that the Lions knew we were there. The picture above was taken during the encounter.
We approached to about 50 meters (~ 130 feet) when one of the Lions showed some sign of “dis-comfort” with our presence. We extracted slowly (and safely) from the sighting. It was one of the most exciting things I ever done in my life!
We then went back and viewed them from our game viewer.
In the last few days we completed walks 6,7,8 and 9. This makes it now 49 km (= 31 miles) and 28 hours walking in the bush during the last week. The two pictures below are sightings of White Rhino and Buffalo on foot.
PS: If you like to know more about the Trails Guiding Course go to http://www.africanaturetraining.co.za. A great experience, even if you do it for fun and not for professional reasons.
To read more about the Mapogo males go to
Walks 2, 3, 4 and 5 – Trails Guiding Course – Africa Nature Training on Sabi Sands Game Reserve
Well, so far it was a wonderful experience. I enjoyed all the walks very much, even if I ended up very tired and with a few blisters 🙂
In the last three days we walked almost 29 km (~ 18 miles) in approximately 15 hours. We had four dangerous game encounters (1x Elephant and 3x Rhino) and saw some animals I had never seen before (e.g. Lesser Spotted Eagle and Giant Plated Lizard) or which I had never gotten close to (e.g. Dwarf Mongoose)
This afternoon I did my first walk as Backup Guide. This means carrying a rifle and being in charge of the group of walkers when the Lead Guide is busy tracking and/or dealing with a dangerous game approach/extraction. I got a good review from our trainer Andre 🙂
The picture shows the first dangerous game encounter during this course. This White Rhino female is quite the unfriendly type, so we kept our distance (around 60 meters = 150 feet). She knew something/someone was there but we extracted before she decided to follow-up!
PS: All pictures on the walks are being taken with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS-10. I do not carry an SLR on the walks. Also, if you like to know more about the Trails Guiding Course go to http://www.africanaturetraining.co.za. A great experience, even if you do it for fun and not for professional reasons.
On today’s game drive we had an encounter with the massive bulk of seven White Rhinos …
… and some Zebras took flight when we approached a waterhole.
At the end of the day two male Cheetah almost caught an Impala.
We also saw an Elephant bull and a group of Wildebeest at the waterhole.
Not a bad Monday.
As promised here are a few more pictures from my day at Mkuze Game Reserve.
Have a great week!
White Rhino (with mudded horn)
White Rhino
Brown-hooded Kingfisher (bathing)
Brown-hooded Kingfisher
Purple-crested Turaco
Cape Turtle Dove (landing)
Blue Waxbill
Crested Barbet
Technical Data – for photographers 🙂
Rhino – Picture 1 – Camera Canon 1D Mark IV – Lens Canon L f/4.0-500mm – 1/2000sec – f/4.5 – ISO 400 – +/-0eV – freehand
Rhino – Picture 2 – Camera Canon 1D Mark IV – Lens Canon L f/2.8-300mm – 1/1250sec – f/2.8 – ISO 400 – +/-0eV – freehand
Kingfisher – Picture 3 – Camera Canon 1D Mark IV – Lens Canon L 28-300mm – at 150mm – 1/2000sec – f/5.6 – ISO 800 – +0.67eV – freehand
Kingfisher – Picture 4 – Camera Canon 1D Mark IV – Lens Canon L f/4.0-500mm + 1.4Ext at 700mm – 1/500sec – f/5.6 – ISO 200 – +/-0eV – freehand
Turaco – Picture 5 – Camera Canon 1D Mark IV – Lens Canon L f/4.0-500mm + 1.4Ext at 700mm – 1/500sec – f/5.6 – ISO 200 – +/-0eV – freehand
Dove – Picture 6 – Camera Canon 1D Mark IV – Lens Canon L f/4.0-500mm – 1/5000sec – f/4.5 – ISO 800 – -0.67eV – freehand
Waxbill – Picture 7 – Camera Canon 1D Mark IV – Lens Canon L f/4.0-500mm + 1.4Ext at 700mm – 1/800sec – f/5.6 – ISO 200 – -1.00eV – freehand
Barbet – Picture 8 – Camera Canon 1D Mark IV – Lens Canon L f/4.0-500mm – 1/3200sec – f/4 – ISO 400 – -0.67eV – freehand
As I am having this weekend off I went today into Mkuze Game Reserve and spent the whole day at the hides on the reserve. I got many very good pictures and will share a few of them with you over the next few weeks (on “Slow Thanda Days” :-)).
For today I have picked three pictures.
The first is titled “Force of Nature”. Four White Rhino made their way straight to the waterhole. From the angle this picture is taken they certainly look loke a force of nature.
The second picture is of a White Rhino bull having a “Rhino Spa” mud treatment. He enjoyed himself thoroughly walling on the side of the waterhole.
The third picture is of Purple-crested Turcao, one of my favorite birds in South Africa, a “Purple-crested Beauty”.
More pictures will follow tomorrow. Have a great Sunday!
On Sunday afternoon I was driving to the Bayete Camp on Phinda Private Game Reserve and I took a wrong turn on the way.
It was rather a lucky turn, because after a few hundred meters (or yards) I spotted a Black Rhino that developed some interest in my car. I got a few pictures before I turned around from my “accidental game drive” and got onto the right way to the camp.
My friends from Panthera (www.panthera.org) and Phinda (www.phinda.com) took me on a proper game drive in the evening. On that drive I took this picture with the funny Cheetah pose.
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 