Tag: THANDA

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36 days – 36 pictures!

36 days and 36 pictures! This is a picture record of one of the busiest times I ever had since I came to South Africa.

My very popular Green Mamba 1 (Specialized Luxury Photography Vehicle) and all my other responsibilities on and off  Thanda left me very little time to blog. So here is a nice long update. And as always more pictures than words!

Enjoy your upcoming weekend!

A young bull for the first time in musth – very confused and a bit aggressive …
A rescued young Genet to be released into the wild …
The stride of the North pride …
Impressive tusks on one of Thanda’s oldest bulls …
Bronze Mannikin – a new species for my bird list …
Horses approaching – a Pakamisa Ostrich gets out of the way …
Very shy – I call them the ‘back-side-antelopes’ because that is usually the only picture I can get – Red Duiker …
They love the layer under the bark …
Close to mum …
Elephant parade on Thanda …
About to go hunting …
Close up and personal …
Colorful and cold …
Not one of the big five – but my favorite antelope – Nyala …
Hyena laughter at Thanda Safari Lodge …
Alert …
Leopard stand-in – This young Cheetah male posed on a tree – as I had not seen a Leopard for quite a while he must have thought that someone had to take over the ‘cat in a tree’ job …
A photo shoot at Pakamisa …
The sun was gone as the bulls started fighting …
The little Lioness was very scared when the young male chased her away from ‘his’ kill …
An awesome sighting – Elephants on the move …
Majestic – A Kudu bull …
Full speed along the beach – a special excursion during a Pakamisa holiday …
Little Hippo out of the water during the day – a rare sighting …
Ellies in the evening sun …
One of my favorites – Black Rhino during drizzling rain …
Get the ticks please …
Just after sunrise …
Mating Lions …
A perfect evening for a drink stop …
The Blood Lilys are out – summer is here …
One of my favorite Giraffe shots, ever …
A good hair day …
Incredible skies …
…
Having a drink…

That is it. I hope you enjoyed the show!

http://www.thanda.com
http://www.pakamisa.com
http://www.sperka.info
http://www.sperka.biz

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A real beauty!

I love this image of a Thanda Safari Lioness which I took on Friday – a real Lion beauty …

… and sorry for not blogging for a while. I was extremely busy over the last few weeks but I promise a detailed post with many pictures soon!

Have a great week!

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White last night – Black this morning!

Over the last few days we had some incredible sightings on Thanda. But these are two of my favorite images from ten exciting game drives.

A White Rhino Bull last night and a Black Rhino this morning.

More soon …

#christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #whiterhino #blackrhino #rhino

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Just now …

Just now – for the first time in the last two weeks – I had a chance to think about a blog message. I thought you might enjoy a summary of all my Instagram images posted since my last blog post on 29 August, And I have included four new bonus images for all my blog followers 🙂

Let’s start with the ‘bonus material’ …

… our oldest Cheetah boy enjoying a drink at Thanda Safari’s Villa iZulu waterhole (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 4/500mm L) …
… a Thanda Lioness flehmen (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 4/500mm L) …
… a Burchell’s Zebra hosting 15! Red-billed Oxpeckers at the same time (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 3.5-5.6/28-300mm L at 235mm) …
… Thanda’s dominant male Lion at the end of the terrestrial twilight (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 3.5-5.6/28-300mm L at 210mm / f5.6 / 1/30s / ISO 6400) …

… and now the images published on Instagram …

… a young female Rhino denying the advances of a male (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 3.5-5.6/28-300mm L at 300mm) …
… Egyptian Geese mating (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 3.5-5.6/28-300mm L at 300mm) …
… the bliss of mud-bath (Canon 5D Mark IV / EF 4.5-5.6/100-400mm LII at 220mm) …
… one of Thanda’s largest Elephant bulls feeding (iPhone 7 Plus) …
… two baby Scrub Hares (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 4/500mm L / ISO 3200 / -1EV / 1/500s / f/4) …
… the view from the Thanda Safari Lodge as the mist rises in the early morning
(iPhone 7 Plus) …
… an awesome White Rhino sighting (iPhone 7 Plus – using the 2x optical zoom – still pretty close 🙂 ) …
… Buffalo yoga at the bush spa (Canon 5D Mark IV / EF 4.5-5.6/100-400mm LII at 180mm)
… Moon and Sun in the same picture – and Bheki 🙂 (iPhone 7 Plus) …
… a little Ellie protected by the herd (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 3.5-5.6/28-300mm L at 90mm)
… Thanda’s young male Lion – ready to mate (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 4/500mm L) …
… Cheetah at sunset (Canon 1D Mark IV – EF 2.8/300mm L) …

I hope you enjoyed the selection. Have a good week.

www.sperka.info | www.thanda.com

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The Montagues and Capulets

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As in Romeo and Juliet this Lioness has no way to get united with her Romeo. As one can see in the video the young female is in esterous and is keen to mate, but the fences between two game reserve prevent the males from getting to here (the roars in the background are from the males on the neighboring reserve).

The lady is obviously not interested in the perfectly good dominant male on her side of the reserve. The grass seems always greener on the other side of the fence.

Enjoy the video and your week!

Video by Christian Sperka, Resident Wildlife Photographer Thanda Safari

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May and June

In the last weeks I did not have a lot of time to blog. But over the last few days I worked on a lot of images (sorting/filing/deleting/editing a few thousand) and I thought you might like to see some of my favorite shots from May and June 2017 which I took at Thanda Safari.

The Big Five, Cheetah, Hyena and more …

Enjoy them!

Big boy …
Bigger boy …
Close …
Closer …
On camera – twice! …
Down the road …
Follow up …
Incredibly strong …
Breakfast …
A good fight …
Just caught …
Almost no light, but still very special indeed …
iPhone 7 plus 2x distance 🙂 …
Me and The Green Mamba 1 – More information at https://sperka.info/gm/

Pictures information for the photographers among you:

  1. 10 June – Small Elephant – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 300mm
  2. 11 May – Large Elephant – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 85mm (DoF-PP)
  3. 30 May – Small Lion – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 85mm
  4. 28 May – Me (Mirror) and Hyena – iPhone 7 Plus
  5. 9 June – Vulture – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 270mm
  6. 30 May – Pride of Lions – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 105mm
  7. 2 June – Cheetah – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 250mm (DoF-PP)
  8. 5 June – Bark Spider – iPhone 7 Plus
  9. 28 May – Hyena on Kill – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 90mm (DoF-PP)
  10. 28 May – Giraffes fighting – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 235mm
  11. 12 May – Leopard with Nyala kill – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 300mm
  12. 20 May – White Rhino with new-born calf – Canon 1D Mark IV with 28-300L at 105mm
  13. 8 June – Cape Buffalo bull – iPhone 7 Plus (2x magnification)
  14. 28 May Me with my Canon 1D Mark IV and the Canon 28-300L lens sitting in the Green Mamba 1 – iPhone 7 Plus

Note: DoF-PP = depth of field change in post processing

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A Look

I came across this shot as I was filing pictures this afternoon. ‘Deer in the headlight look’ comes to mind 🙂

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SUNday

One of Thanda’s Lionesses in the most beautiful morning light. Have a good SUNday 🙂

Picture details: African Lion | Location: Thanda Safari, South Africa
Canon 1D Mark IV | Canon EF500 f4L | AV | ISO 200 | 1/500s | f/4 | 0eV | WB 6500K – post processing corrected | free-hand

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Dugga Boy

Dugga means mud!

Dugga Boy is a nickname given to older Buffalo males who have passed their prime breeding age and spend their days wallowing in mud pools. Dugga boys occur in small bachelor herds or as individuals. They are quite vulnerable and therefore more aggressive than animals in a large herd. This Thanda Dugga Boy had a good stretch before he left the Ubomvu waterhole. Ubomvu means red in the local Zulu language – a very good name considering the red soil in this area!

Picture details: Cape Buffalo | Location: Thanda Safari, South Africa
Canon 1D Mark IV | Canon EF28-300 f3.5-5.6L at 200mm | AV | ISO 2500 | 1/500s | f/5.6 | 1.0eV | WB 6500K | free-hand

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