When I sent this picture (which I took this evening on my way home) to a friend, he responded with ‘this is Photoshop, isn’t it’.
Well, the answer is that it is not! Our dominant male lion raised his head from sleeping just as the sun had set. I was in the right place at the right time!
This picture was taken with my iPhone 14 Pro Max and was edited with the standard iPhone tools.
Here are the steps taken:
1 – The picture was first cropped to 9:16 (portrait).
Terrapins are the ultimate sun worshippers. On a nice warm day, they will pile up on top of one another to catch the sun’s rays and at the same time exchange body heat (retain as much heat as possible to stay warm).
A few days ago, I took this picture of nine of these ‘freshwater turtles’ on a piece of wood in the middle of one of Thanda Safari’s waterholes.
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f/11 800mm | ISO 4000 | 1/500 sec | EV -1 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Cropped to 10% of the original image.
One of the most iconic birds representing Africa is the African Fish Eagle. This large and beautiful bird of prey has a very distinctive call to communicate with other members of its species.
They resemble the American Bald Eagle as they are part of the same bird family (Accipitridae).
The African Fish Eagle is typically larger in size compared to the Bald Eagle. The African Fish Eagle has a wingspan of up to 8 feet (2.4 meters) and a body length of around 3 feet (0.9 meters). In comparison, the Bald Eagle has a wingspan of around 6.5 to 7.5 feet (2 to 2.3 meters) and a body length of about 2.5 to 3 feet (0.76 to 0.91 meters).
I took this picture of an African Fish Eagle landing on a tree stump at the Falcon Ridge Bird of Prey Centre in the Drakensberg. A place well worth visiting!
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 800 | 1/2000sec | f4.5 | ev+2 | 62mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 60% of original image
The uKhahlamba Drakensberg (a World Heritage Site) is a magnificent range of mountains, the majority of which lie in KwaZulu Natal and stretch well over 200 kilometres, forming a natural border between Lesotho and KwaZulu Natal. Last week, I spent five days in the area.
Below is a picture report for all the places I visited during this ‘fact-finding mission.’ I never travel anywhere with guests where I have not visited myself beforehand. On the way to ‘The Berg,’ I drove through the Midlands and looked at a few places there as well.
List of places/activities visited:
– The Howick Falls (Waterfall and Museum) [A]
– Nelson Mandela Capture Site (Monument and Museum) [A]
– The Platform (Art Gallery) [A]
– The Piggly Wiggly (Food and Shopping Village) [A]
– Hartford House (Hotel, Restaurant, and Stud Farm) [B]
– Giants Castle Reserve and Bushman Rock Art [C]
– Champagne Castle (Hotel and Restaurant) [D]
– Monks Cowl Nature Reserve [D]
– Drakensberg Boys Choir School (Concert) [D]
– Falcon Ridge (Bird of Prey Centre) [D]
– Dragonview Lodge (Boutique Hotel and Restaurant) [E]
– Valley Bakery (Deli Bakery and Restaurant) [F]
– Spionkop Nature Reserve [G]
– Cleopatra Mountain Farmhouse (Hotel and Restaurant) [H]
– Highmoor Nature Reserve [H]
Planned activities missed this time:
– Drakensberg Ballooning (no availability during my time in The Berg) [I]
– Drakensberg Helicopter Tour (cancelled due to bad weather conditions) [D]
– The Sani Pass (This time I had no time for this excursion, but I will do this with guests in September) [K]
– Weenen Game Reserve (cancelled due to bad weather conditions) [L]
– I am planning another trip to The Berg later this year, and I hope I will be able to do the ballooning and the helicopter tour at that time.
[X] = Location (approximate area) on the map below
Special thanks to all my South African friends who gave me tips on where to go. Quite a few of the places and activities will be added to my ‘Custom Luxury Tour’ suggestions (www.sperka.info) for future trips with my guests. I have included web links (where available) for more information.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about these places not answered in the report below.
So here we go…
Howick Falls
This waterfall (in Howick, just off the R103) is one of the highest in South Africa and quite impressive to observe. It is worth a short visit on the way into The Berg. There was a lot of very good ‘wire/beads art’ on sale from local vendors at the falls. There is a small museum with some good explanations of the colonial history of the area.
Nelson Mandela Capture Site
In my opinion, this is a must, especially if one has not visited the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. Besides the incredible monument dedicated to Nelson Mandela, the first democratically elected South African President, it features a most interesting museum opened in 2020, giving insight into the long way from the apartheid state to the modern democratic republic and Nelson Mandela’s role in the process. It is located just off the R103.
Also on the R103 on the route to the Piggly Wiggly, I stopped at a very interesting contemporary art gallery called The Platform. A good stop if you like art. And there is live music in the coffee shop on Sundays!
The Piggly Wiggly is a small and very quaint ‘food and shopping’ village on the R103. A very good place to stop for breakfast or lunch and to do a bit of souvenir shopping for real good quality stuff. The small antique bookstore is a treasure trove for those who like old books!
Hartford House is an excellent boutique luxury hotel with a superb restaurant. The general manager of Hartford House gave me a very interesting tour of the stud farm, which is one of the activities for their guests. I looked at all the accommodation options and had a very good lunch and a fantastic dinner. Hartford House will definitely be added to my portfolio to suggest to future guests.
Only a 45-minute hike from the Giants Castle Resort Reception (it took me about 65 minutes, but I am a very slow walker and I stopped many times for photography), I visited two caves with stone-age rock paintings. The local guide on-site showed me around and explained the site. Well worth a visit.
This hotel has the most stunning views of the Monks Cowl Nature Reserve mountains. I stayed here for two nights. It is worth a visit for the views, but the rooms are a bit ‘tired,’ and the restaurant buffet food is below the standard one would expect for the rates one pays. It confirmed again my dislike for soggy buffet-style food. The best rooms to book are the two mountain view suites (they are in quite good shape). The deluxe mountain view rooms are also OK. I would not book the mountain-facing rooms with only partial views of the scenery.
I attended two ‘Music in the Mountains Festival’ concerts of the world-famous Drakensberg Boys Choir, which I enjoyed very much. From ‘Zadok the Priest’ to ‘Shosholoza,’ they performed a variety of songs from classical music to traditional African pieces. Two nights to remember. They do a concert every Wednesday during the school term. This year they are also going on tour to England (20 to 30 September), perform from 30 May to 2 June in Gauteng ‘Music in the City,’ and celebrate ‘Christmas in the Berg’ from 6 to 8 December. If I get a chance, I will be back soon!
This was not my first visit to Falcon Ridge, and it will not be my last either. I love the show with the rescue birds and its great photo opportunities. A definite addition to my ‘must-see in the Drakensberg list.’
I stopped by this small boutique lodge with its bistro-style restaurant. I had an excellent meal and did a site inspection of the eight-room lodge. I definitely found my place to stay for the future in this area of the Berg. For me and my guests, such small lodge operations are much better suited than the large hotels like Champagne Castle and Champagne Sports Resort, which I have also visited for a short inspection. Dragonview Lodge is the perfect place to stay when one is going to a Drakensberg Boys Choir concert.
As the breakfast at Champagne Castle Hotel was very disappointing, I chose to drive to the Valley Bakery for breakfast. This quite famous bakery with its small deli restaurant is worth a stop for breakfast or lunch.
This small nature reserve’s facilities are unfortunately very neglected. I took a short drive during the reserve and had a few very good bird sightings (two life listers!). But there was almost no game. This is not a place to visit with guests.
Cleopatra Mountain Farmhouse
My last stop was my favourite place in the Drakensberg. There is no question for me that Cleopatra Mountain Farmhouse, with its English country house charm, with its stunning views into the Highmoor Reserve, and its superb cuisine, is the perfect place in the mountains. After all the great places I visited during this trip, it felt like coming home. Together with Thanda Safari and Pakamisa Private Game Reserve, it represents the trio of my favourite places in KwaZulu Natal!
I am currently exploring the Drakensberg Mountains area. Today, I walked from the Giants Castle Resort to some caves with prehistoric San rock paintings. I enjoyed the one-hour hike to get there, even if some of the track was a bit challenging.
On the way, I took a few pictures of some Common Elands. This largest living antelope species in Southern Africa likes higher altitudes.
Adult females (as in this picture) usually weigh around 400kg (~990lbs), whereas males can get up to 900kg (~1980lbs).
I saw four cows today, but only this one stood still long enough for me to get a good picture.
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 100 | 1/750 sec | f6.3 | EV -0.5 | 240mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 25% of the original image
I rescued this Eastern Tiger Snake from a bathtub and released it back into the wild in our garden.
This specimen was in the process of shedding its skin (ecdysis). This process allows the snake to grow and remove any parasites which may have attached themselves to the skin.
Eastern Tiger Snakes are only mildly venomous and are no danger to Humans.
Before letting it go I placed it in a Coral tree and used it as a photo model. These are some of the images from the photo shoot.
If you want to read more of my stories and see more of my pictures, you should visit my blog at https://sperka.info/blog/
Today, I am departing for a brief excursion into the Drakensberg Mountains. I plan to explore some new locations and attend two concerts featuring the renowned Drakensberg Boys Choir.
Before my departure, I thought I share a short slide show with some of my favorite photographs captured at Thanda and Pakamisa over the past three weeks.
I hope you will like the combination of wildlife, scenery, and night skies.
If you want to read more of my stories and see more of my pictures, you should visit my blog at https://sperka.info/blog/
Thanda Safari recently purchased a Seestar S50, an intelligent astronomical telescope. I like working with it, as requires very little setup and lets me display/save the magnified stellar objects’ images on my iPad.
Besides looking at nebulas and other deep space objects it works very well for moon observation and sun observation (using a special filter).
This evening I took this moon picture from the Thanda House garden.
I also enjoy night sky photography. This – rather blue – milky way picture I took this morning at 5:30 before sunrise, during the nautical twilight, and just before the start of the ‘blue hour’. In this lucky shot I captured a shooting star.
Crisp winter nights are ideal for star gazing and photography. I am looking forward to some more night sessions in the upcoming winter months.
Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens L 17-40mm | ISO 6400 | 8sec | f4 | ev+0 | 19mm | Manual focus | WB Auto | M Mode | Crop to 40% of original image
As some of you have reminded me that I never provided the answer to my Lion quiz from 9 April, I would like to apologize for the delay. https://sperka.info/2024/04/09/noses/
Zanele, the oldest Lioness at Thanda Safari at 15 years old, was located in the top-right corner of the picture.
This is the portrait I captured of her on that day.
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f/11 800mm | ISO 3200 | 1/750sec | EV +0 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Image cropped to 40% of the original size.
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 