This small Elephant did not mind the rain. He was moving between all his elders and ended up with mum – demanding his morning meal.
The Thanda guests enjoyed their early morning game drive – despite the summer rain!
Too wet to ride :-(
I had a great time at Pakamisa (www.pakamisa.com)!
I enjoyed the birding course with Prof. Ian MacDonald, learning a lot about the birds in Kwazulu Natal and – despite the very rainy weather – I got some good bird shots. Staying at this beautiful place in the Zululand hills, enjoying the excellent cuisine and the five star service is a treat. And, as always on Pakamisa, I had the opportunity to take some good horse images.
I was only a bit disappointed that the weather did not allow for my first horse ride. Pakamisa acquired recently a horse which is strong enough to carry a portly gentleman as myself :-).
Well, I hope to be back at Pakamisa soon and I hope the weather will be good enough for my first horse ride 🙂
Picture above: Scarlet-chested Sunbird feeding in the Pakamisa lodge garden.
Pakamisa’s stables.
Two of Pakamisa’s Arabians. Baracka (a mare) on the left and her full brother Jamaal.
“My horse” at Pakamisa. This beautiful crossbred between a Thoroughbred and a Shire named Badger is strong enough for me to ride. I am looking forward to my first ride!
A Ostrich portrait taken in the rain at Pakamisa.
Baby Ostriches grow very fast. The seven youngsters are only three month old, but already almost as tall as their parents.
I (on the left) learned a lot about birds during the course with Prof. Ian MacDonald (on the right).
A Pakamisa bird party. These Weavers and Quelea enjoyed the leftovers from the Ostrich feeding.
A Golden-breasted Bunting chick calling to be fed!
Keeping up with mum
In this picture the little White Rhino is running along mum towards a waterhole. Mum was a bit agitated, but it had nothing to do with the game drive vehicle in the area. A young bull was giving her some unwanted attention and she got out-of-the-way quickly (with her tail rolled up).
Just too hot!- and gone for a while ….
Our dominant male Lion gave me “the look” when he was rolling over in a shady spot on a very hot and humid afternoon.
Have a good weekend!
PS: I will be off Thanda for a few days and my blog messages may be less frequent than usually. I am looking forward to participating in a birding course at Pakamisa, one of my favorite places in Kwazulu Natal, and then I will just go where the fancy takes me – that might not be the correct English expression – but you know what I mean 🙂 I will be back working on Thanda on 18 December.
ISIBINDI – Rhino Parade
The Thanda wildlife team joined Wildlands Conservation Trust representatives at the unveiling of the latest “Rhino Parade Art” at Durban’s King Shaka International Airport.
Read more at ISIBINDI – Rhino Parade.
Welcome back!
We had not seen the Thanda Cheetah female and her cubs for quite a while. So it was exciting moment for the Thanda guests, the tracker and the guide when the Thanda Wildlife Management announced over the radio that the three Cheetah had been spotted.
When we arrived at the scene the female had just killed a baby Impala. Her two cubs – a boy and a girl – started feeding immediately while mum kept a watchful eye on the surrounding.
We stayed for almost an hour observing these beautiful cats.
The Cheetah mum catching an baby Impala.
The young boy is smacking his lips after a good meal.
The little girl is having a look at bird flying by.
Cheetah family assembled for breakfast.
Strange scent!
Some of Thanda’s Cape Buffalo came for their evening drink to a waterhole. And while they were drinking and mud-bathing some of them picked up a scent they did not like. Many heads went up and with ears directed forward they were trying to establish a possible threat.
After a few minutes they all stampeded away from the waterhole. The Thanda guests on my vehicle enjoyed the show, even if we were not able to figure out what had bothered them 🙂
Want a ride, my dear?
Well, it is Dung Beetle season. In this warm and humid weather these insects are getting very active. This makes for a great “small” sighting during a game drive.
The males of this Dung Beetle species creates a large dung ball which then attracts the ladies. Once a female has approved of a ball she hitches a ride while he rolls it to an appropriate “burial site”.
When a spot with soft soil is found, they stop and bury the ball, then mate underground and the female lays eggs inside the brooding ball.
Dung beetles go through a complete metamorphosis. The larvae live in brood balls made with dung prepared by their parents, feeding on the dung surrounding them.
Delay – no problem!
In a five-star lodge service delays are not acceptable. So normally the game drives start just in time! But the rules change when the Thanda Elephants get involved.
Today a few of Thanda Elephant bulls were making their way to the Lodge when guests spotted them from the Lodge deck just before game drive.
Everyone waited patiently for the giant creatures to arrive. And only after they finished their drink at the water feature in front of the Lodge did the guests depart for the evening drive.
Half an hour late – quite acceptable when caused by Elephants 🙂
In front of the camera :-)
Photographers seldom end up on pictures. Well, there are not very many pictures with me in them, especially not during interesting wildlife operations.
But at this Rhino darting operation one of the subjects of my pictures (it was actually Kingsley Holgate, a well known South African explorer, humanitarian and author – who was present during the operation) took the camera away from me and shot this image. Thanks!
And then a member of the wildlife team took this image with all the guides, trackers, game guards and the Rhino boy involved in this procedure.
So, two picture with me in it in one day – must be a record 🙂
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 