Seeing the big five when in South Africa is usually at the top of most peoples to do list and Rich and I are no different. Although we didn’t have time to head up to Kruger National Park, we did make a stop at Aquila, a private game reserve only two hours drive from Cape Town.

We arrived at Aquila at lunchtime and after a welcome drink sat down to what can only be described as a banquet of food. This was our first all you can eat experience in South Africa and given the amount of money we had spent on one night there, we were going to get our moneys worth!

In the restaurant, decorated with huge pictures of the reserves game, we ate and ate and ate until we could eat no more. The food was delicious and with our first game drive scheduled for 4.30pm, we managed to fit in an afternoon nap to help digest all of the food before we headed out.

Marco was our guide and drove the 4×4 out into the reserve with all passengers in great anticipation of what we would see. Although the reserve is home to all of the big five (lion, buffalo, leopard, rhinocerous and elephant) there’s no guarantee that you get to see them all but still we were all hopeful.

Aquila private game reserve

The Aquila lodges

Artwork in the banquet hall

Enjoying our first game drive

The game drive did not disappoint and Marco sought out fantastic sightings of the rhino, hippo, zebra, wildebeest, eland, lions, springbok and ostrich.

Half way through the game drive we stopped off for some champagne and canopes, understandably, we didn’t eat much and instead raised a toast to South Africa watching the sunset.

Sonia posing with an elephant

Hippo in the water hole

Playful hippo

Sleeping lion

A quick glimpse of the male mountain lion

Being watched carefully by the lion

Lion relaxing in the evening shade

Enjoying the game drive drinks

There were a lot of eland on the reserve

The wildebeest

Grazing zebra

White rhino at the water hole

Sunset over the mountains

After our three hour game drive we headed back for a couple of celebratory drinks by a roaring log fire (it gets really cold when the sun goes down) and ended the evening with another delicious serving of food before getting an early night. Our second game drive was leaving at 6.30am and there was no way we were going to miss it.

Our second game drive did not disappoint either with sightings of giraffe, heron, klipspringer and a visit to the reserves animal rescue centre, the ARC. The ARC provides sanctuary to animals that would otherwise not be alive. Home to a couple of crocodile, a leopard, two cheetahs and two lions, Marco explained how the ARC rescued and now looks after these animals. Unfortunately, due to the way they have been reared, they will never be able to become wild animals again however they can at least live an enjoyable life being well looked after by people with their best interests at heart.

Cheetah relaxing in the Animal Rescue Centre

Leopard in the Animal Rescue Centre

Grazing giraffes

Klipspringer keeping watch

Giraffe looking rather small against the mountains

Rich and I loved the time we spent at Aquila, the game drives were excellent, the food amazing, the views stunning and Marco our guide was really knowledgeable and had a good sense of humour. On our two game drives the only animal from the big five that eluded us was the buffalo. Although it would have been great to see one, Rich and I packed our bags more than satisfied with our lot at Aquila.

Hearing Rich shout from outside our chalet when he went to pack up the car, I bolted outside to see what had happened. There, right in front of our chalet, separated only by a few wires of an electric fence was a buffalo walking straight towards Rich.

I dashed back inside to grab the camera (I never like to miss an opportunity to take a photo) and joined Rich who had walked only 5 metres from our front door and had the buffalo in full view.

I always knew that buffalos were big animals, but seeing one twenty metres away was truly a sight to behold. Not only is its body huge and muscular, when it turned its face straight toward us, there was something rather petrifying about it. Under no circumstances were we going to stare out a buffalo, so we headed back thrilled to have caught a glimpse of the elusive buffalo minutes before we left.

It turns out that buffalo are like buses, as soon as we saw one in the trees outside our chalet, we saw a second right by the gate entrance into the reserve. Rather amusingly it was stood next to the ‘beware of the buffalo’ sign however not wanting to suffer late checkout charges, Rich and I headed to reception and brought our Aquila experience to an end.

Beware of the buffalo

Being eyeballed by a buffalo

It’s an experience that neither of us will ever forget and will always be grateful for.