Imagine …
… you left your office for a short drive in nature
Imagine …
… you spend a warm summer evening on an open savanna
Imagine …
… a lite drizzle of rain and strong winds cool you down
and imagine …
… you watch a beautiful male Lion drinking, observing his surroundings and sleeping
Well, if you can imagine that then you shared one of my evenings this week 😊
Have a good weekend!
#Thandasafari @thandasafari #christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
A bad monkey rampages houses, takes goods from tables, threatens women and children to give up their meals and is not afraid of humans.
A good monkey forages in the wild, avoids human habitation, is quite afraid of people and can only be observed from a distance.
And who turns a good monkey into a bad monkey: Humans … by leaving food in the open, by feeding the cute creatures and teaching them the wrong behavior.
Only a monkey that has the natural fear of humans will remain to be a safe monkey. Once a monkey has lost that fear he is no longer safe.
Please keep them safe!
PS: A troop of Vervet Monkeys is stopping most afternoons at the Thanda House gardens to feed of and around the trees. They get nowhere near the house. If they see me and if they think I saw them then they immediately disappear into the crowns of the trees. If I am around and one gets to close to the house I give a quick shout and all of them take flight. At Thanda House we keep all food in fridges or in sealed containers and keep all doors and windows closed if we are not around. Safe for us and safe for the monkeys.
This picture was taken with a 500mm lens. The little guy has not detected me yet. As soon as he heard the click of the camera and saw me he bolted.
#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
#Thandasafari @thandasafari
It seems that the years go faster the older I get. But my mother tells me that is the ‘modern’ world around me going faster and faster. Be that as it may, this busy year went by very quickly.
Here are 12 pictures. One for each month as a reminder of an interesting and eventful time.
I wish all of you a Happy New Year 2019!
In January I took this picture of a Secretary bird during a visit to Ithala Game Reserve. One of my favourite national parks in KwaZulu Natal.
On 19 February we had over 100 mm of rain and the Thanda House waterhole was full to the rim. In my over six years at Thanda I had never seen so much water!
I call March the month of the Lions. All North pride females presented their litters to the world and all the sudden we had 10 new Lion cubs!
One of my favourite subjects to photograph are White Rhinos on the Thanda Safari savanna. I really like this shot taken in April. The savanna was still quite green at the time.
It is always very existing when a herd of Elephants appears around a corner and one has to practice driving backwards to get out of their way. On this day in May the herd was in a hurry to get to a waterhole. And so was I!
Chewing the cud. This Giraffe was supplementing its body with calcium and phosphorous from an old bone by chewing on it. This picture was taken in June, one of the winter month when this behaviour can often be observed.
I love the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Lake St.Lucia. A boat cruise on a day in July presented many opportunities to take pictures of sparring Hippos.
Thanks again to many of you around the world who help me supporting Inkanyiso Creche in one of our local communities. In August I delivered a first batch of goodies (tables, games, pictures, …). More will follow in the new year!
A visit to Tembe Elephant Park is always worthwhile. In September I had the opportunity to visit again and I got some great Elephant and Buffalo images.
October: A bit of hanky-panky in spring. The most natural thing in the world. Making new Zebras! Note the Buffalo in the background watching with interest.
Baby animals are always cute, but little Hyena puppies win this year’s price for cuteness. Since November we had many sightings of them around their den.
Summer rains have started properly and the savanna is turning green again. Our new Cheetah males love the open areas which they share with many species. In this December image Zebras, Impalas and Rhinos are posing in the background for this Cheetah portrait.
And in case you would like to view more of my 2018 pictures just have a look at my images on Instagram – www.instagram.com/christiansperkaphotography
I will now take a few days off relaxing at Pakamisa Private Game Reserve.
I will be back in 2019 with more pictures from Thanda Safari and many other places in the South African Wild.
I wish all my friends around the world a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
With my very best wishes from South Africa – Christian
This is a selection of pictures documenting my work for the last eight weeks. I has been busy and interesting. I hope you will enjoy this picture collection 🙂
#christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
The last ten weeks have been by far the busiest since my arrival in South Africa over six years ago. They were exciting, interesting and exhausting.
But there was no time for blogging. Nevertheless here are my twenty favorite images from this period. I hope you enjoy the pictures!
#christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
Today is World Rhino Day – I am celebrating the day by posting my favorite Rhino picture ever.
I took thousands of images of these incredible creatures over the year and this one is by no means technically perfect – but it is my favorite!
#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
I had finally time to deliver the first batch of goodies to the crèche.
The kids and their volunteer teacher Lungy Philile were delighted about their new tables, crayons, paper, educational toys, balls, large trash container and plastic boxes to store everything in. They especially loved the 11 baby animal posters with names in isiZulu and in English.
I also delivered a nice food hamper for Lungy as a thank you for her volunteer work with the children.
Next I am planning to get them a large white board, pens, more educational games and some outside play equipment (eg swings).
I will keep you updated.
Thanks again for all the generous donations many of you have sent which enable me to help!
About the crèche:
With the help of some guests’ donations Thanda Safari has built this little school house. It is now run by a community committee without the help of any public funds. A volunteer teacher is looking after the – up to 30 – two to four year old kids. This crèche is located in one of the poorest areas of Zululand.
Sun | Speed | Mamba | Relax | Cross | Wet | Rain | Walk | Anger | Lazy | Color
One picture per day …
For the last ten days I hosted a private photography safari guest on Thanda Safari. The lady from Switzerland had booked nine nights of private photo drives and photo lessons. These are a few of the best pictures which I took during her stay. We had a great time!
I hope you like my summary for these 10 days.
For many more pictures please subscribe to my Instagram channel (ChristianSperkaPhotography).
Monday – Day 1 | A beautiful Thanda Safari sunset | Canon 1D Mark IV – f4 – 500mm L
Tuesday – Day 2 | A speed run after a Wildebeest resulting in a kill | Canon 1D Mark IV – f3.5-5.6 – 28- 300mm
Wednesday – Day 3 | The Green Mamba 1 at Thanda’s largest waterhole | iPhone 7 Plus
Thursday – Day 4 | Lion cubs relaxing in the warm morning sun | Canon 1D Mark IV – f3.5-5.6 – 28- 300mm
Friday – Day 5 | An Elephant her crossing the Mduna River | Canon 1D Mark IV – f3.5-5.6 – 28-300mm L
Saturday – Day 6 | A wet Brown-hooded Kingfisher at the kuMasinga hide on Mkuze Game Reserve | Canon 1D Mark – f4 – 500mm L
Sunday – Day 7 | Vervet Monkey on a rainy day | Canon 1D Mark IV – f4 – 500mm L
Monday – Day 8 | Little Elephant and her mum walking towards my vehicle | Canon 1D Mark IV – f3.5-5.6 – 28-300mm
Tuesday – Day 9 | Angry dad! A male Lion telling a youngster to keep his distance | Canon 1D Mark IV – f3.5-5.6 – 28-300mm L
Wednesday – Day 10 | A lazy Cheetah male in the early morning | Canon 1D Mark IV – f4 – 500mm L
Extra | One of my favorite shots: A Knob-thorn tree and a Giraffe in the morning light | Canon 1D Mark IV – f3.5-5.6 – 28-300mm L
#christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
Bee-Eater | Flight | Sun | Set | Walk | Owl | Moon | Rise
One picture per day …
I hope your like my weekly summary. For many more pictures please subscribe to my Instagram channel (ChristianSperkaPhotography).
#christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
