… is the term for an old Cape Buffalo bull who is no longer with a herd. As this specimen demonstrated last night at Thanda, such bulls love to wallow in mud as means to cool down and to give them some protection from parasites and the sun.
Such solitary bulls are extremely dangerous as they are notoriously bad tempered and ready to attack at any time.
#Thandasafari @thandasafari
#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
When they are not needed for horseback safaris then the horses on Pakamisa roam freely on the reserve.
I took this picture on Sunday when I met some of them on my morning game drive on the reserve.
#Pakamisagamereserve @pakamisagamereserve #christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
Two days ago we did a short night drive and we saw Spotted Eagle Owls, a White-faced Owl, Side-striped Jackals, a Bush-Baby (Brown Thick-tailed Galagos), a White-tailed Mongoose and a few Bark Spiders, who build every evening precision-webs to catch prey during the night.
The next morning they eat their own webs to preserve the protein for the coming night’s master-building session 😊
#Pakamisagamereserve @pakamisagamereserve #christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
An ‘airborne’ Impala female in sprinting mode at Pakamisa! As with most herd-prey-species good photo opportunities occur once the flight instinct kicks in. If one of them starts running for whatever reason the others will follow.
#Pakamisagamereserve @pakamisagamereserve #christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
A Green-backed Heron and Hamerkop trying to catch fish at a concrete low bridge!
Tsendze river low bridge at the Shipandane overnight hide, S142, Kruger National Park
#ChristianSperkaPhotography #ChristianSperka #Kruger #KrugerNationalPark #KrugerSouthToNorth #KrugerNorth #KrugerSouthAfrica #ExploreKruger
This Verreaux’s Eagle Owl was very relaxed when I encountered it on a night drive in Kruger National Park. I love the pink eye lids.
Location: H1-5 – On the railing of the bridge over the Olifants’ river.
#ChristianSperkaPhotography #ChristianSperka #Kruger #KrugerNationalPark #KrugerSouthToNorth #KrugerNorth #KrugerSouthAfrica #ExploreKruger
Little Elephants are very playful, especially around water 😊 Have a good weekend!
#Thandasafari @thandasafari #christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
This Southern Carmine Bee-eater was hunting when I took this picture.
A lot of patience to capture this fast flying bird on camera. S-100 road near Satara Rest Camp, Kruger National Park.
#ChristianSperkaPhotography #ChristianSperka #Kruger #KrugerNationalPark #KrugerSouthToNorth #KrugerNorth #KrugerSouthAfrica #ExploreKruger
A short video two male Lions at Thanda Safari taken during a ‘drive-by’ shot with an iPhone held on eye-level 😊
#Thandasafari @thandasafari #christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography
A new book by Leon Wobbe and Christian Sperka*
ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE BOOK SALES WILL GO TO THE INKANYISO CRÈCHE PROJECT
Early last year a young man from Germany by the name of Leon Wobbe spent eight weeks as a Ulwazi volunteer on Thanda Safari. He brought along his camera equipment and I taught him wildlife photography. Besides taking many pictures on Thanda Safari we also went together on photography trips to the Sabi Sands Game Reserve, to Kruger National Park and to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
We created a coffee table book about Leon’s 8 weeks and my 8 years in South Africa. It includes some of our best pictures and a few stories about our South African adventures. I am very proud and grateful that I was able to provide my pictures and stories to the book and I enjoyed very much creating this ‘little piece of South African art’ together with Leon.
The text is written in German and in English and the book has 96 pages. It is available for sale at the Thanda Safari curio shops or directly from me (It can be be sent out world-wide via courier if requested / courier fees are extra). The local price for the book is ZAR490 (~EUR30 or ~USD35). All proceeds from the book sales will go directly towards the Inkanyiso Crèche Project (which got its own chapter in the book). Anyone who wants to pay more as a donation to the crèche is very welcome. Some of my friends from around the world and I support the Inkanyiso Crèche Project since 2018.
A digital version of the book (PDF) is also for sale for R200 (or more :-). The income from these ‘digital sales’ will also go towards the crèche.
For information about the project and/or to order the 8 WEEKS and 8 YEARS book (hard copy or PDF) please contact me at info@sperka.com.
Click here to look at a few sample page spreads of the book: https://christiansperka.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/8-8-preview-s.pdf
#ThandaSafari #KrugerNationalPark #SabiSandsGameReserve #iSimangalisoWetlandPark #UlwaziResearch #VolunteerAtThanda #8WeeksAnd8Years #8+8 @leon.wbb #InkanyisoCreche @christiansperkaphotography @sperkachristian @thandasafari @inkanyisocreche
Ulwazi Research (www.ulwaziresearch.com) is Thanda Safari’s volunteer and research program.
