For me these are two true symbols for the African bush: Giraffe and Fever Tree! The Thanda guests on my vehicle enjoyed this beautiful scene in the morning sun.
The Fever Tree (Acacia xanthophloea) is a species of Acacia native to eastern and southern Africa. The trees grow to a height of 15–25 m. The characteristic bark is smooth, powdery and greenish-yellow in color It is one of the few trees where photosynthesis takes place in the bark. Fever trees are fast-growing and short-lived.
This youngster of Thanda’s herd of Elephant was trying to use his trunk to get a fruit of the Prickly Pear, but he did not succeed.
We watched the little one for quite a while as he was trying to imitate his mum and his older sibling.
A beautiful sighting in the morning sun!
When we left the Thanda Lodge this evening we spotted this Leopard walking down the road. What a start to a game drive!
PS: I will never again complain about my Leopard sightings in Kwazulu Natal. I was very lucky lately 🙂
… not a gun, but a point and shoot camera.
This young female Leopard was standing in the road when I drove towards the Thanda Royal Private Villa. She was curious and waited for me to get closer. She then turned around and walked in front of me for a while before she disappeared into the bush.
I was glad that I always have a point and shoot camera with me, so I got some pictures. Not the greatest quality, but it is evidence 🙂
What a sighting!
… and here is a short video of the young Leopard : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWBd7Ml9moI
The Thanda guests on today’s evening game drive were a bit intimidated and very impressed, but really loved the encounter with one of our two 40-45 year old Elephant bulls.
He gave me a few head shakes as a greeting after my absence on a trails guiding course. What a welcome!
This Lion cub was concentrating hard on the “toy-stick”. He got so upset with the branch that he even used his claws!
Have a good weekend and relax 🙂
On the last day of our work cycle we had some unusual sightings. The Thanda guests on today’s morning game drive enjoyed a Spotted Hyena crossing the savanna in full daylight (a very rare occurrence).
We caught a glimpse of a young Leopard before it retreated into very thick bush and …
… we ended the game drive with an unusual view of the Elephant herd on the side of a hill, on which we cannot drive with our vehicles.
We also saw Cheetahs, a White Rhino, Giraffes and a Yellow-billed Kite on the same drive. A great morning!
After a very long work cycle (26 instead of 21 days) I will now be off for eight days before I leave for another “Trails Guiding Contact Session Course” with African Nature Training – ANT (www.africanaturetraining.co.za) in the Sabi Sands. I will return to Thanda on 24 March.
There will be fewer blogs during this time, but look out for the unusual ones 🙂
Imagine you are a Lion!
You are feeding on a Zebra kill and you had already a lot to eat. So it is a bit hard to move with your full belly. And just as you feel ready for a snooze a herd of Buffalo is crashing the dinner site of your family. They chase all of you around a bit.
You climb a tree and find out that the tree you chose was not high enough.
You growl at the Buffalo and they get even more agitated than they already were.
At the right moment you jump out of the tree and you flee to the next tree.
There you wait until the annoying bulls and cows are gone.
Only then can you re-join your other eight family members (coming down from other trees) to continue the meal and the now well deserved snooze.
Not your best day!
A very special sighting at Thanda Private Game Reserve 🙂
It is always an unexpected thrill when Lions pass within hands reach of the vehicle. All nine Lions of the Thanda North Pride were walking along the northern fence line when we had this beautiful encounter.
The Thanda guests on this morning game drive loved it, even if their heart rate was up a bit 🙂
Below is the Thanda North Pride “Organization Chart”!
This was the first time that I saw our two male Cheetahs on a kill. They often hunt in very thick areas and only appear once they are well fed, far away from the actual kill. On this occasion they brought down a baby Zebra on the savanna. In this picture one of the brothers is keeping watch while the other one still feeds on the carcass.
Cheetahs eat incredibly fast because they often loose their kill to larger predators.
They can “stuff” themselves to the point they have difficulties moving – except when motivated by an approaching Lion :-).
The Zebra’s mother was still looking and calling for her calf when we arrived at the scene. A wound on her back showed that she had recently survived a Lion attack. And now she lost her new-born calf to the Cheetah. Let’s hope she survives her injury and that she will be able to have another calf.
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 