Cape Town, South Africa

Thursday 20th February 2020

Cape Town, South Africa

Oh My….Oh My, the chief objective to this cruise is to go to Cape Town and experience a once in a life time visit to a safari game reserve.  To see a large variety of game species: lions, rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, giraffes, zebras, warthogs and several varieties of antelope, and we did!

When we arrived in Richards Bay we attended a mandatory face to face Immigration Inspection required to visit South Africa. As we are continuing to sail through South African waters, our disembarkation here did not have this formality, making it quicker getting off the ship. We were part of a group of 35 who joined this private tour organised by a fellow passenger shortly after booking this cruise. We like to thank him for organising and allowing us to be part of this group tour.

Two small buses were waiting on the wharf to transport us to Aqulia Game Reserve for our overnight stay and safari. The drive took us around 2 and half hours to drive through the wine growing regions north east of Cape Town. I am amazed by the kilometres of vineyards growing between to rugged mountains, a lot more than I have ever seen anywhere. (Australia and France). These vast vineyards were all enclosed with electric and /or razor wire fences. The question arises; is it to keep out baboons or people out?

                       Rocky boulders lind the road as we travelled out of Cape Town.

                             Valley's of vineyards nestled between rugged ranges.

As we headed out of Cape Town we could see the cloud formation over Table Mountain, known locally as ‘the table cloth’. Thinking to ourselves, ‘thank goodness we aren’t planning to visit Table Mountain today as there would not be any views to be seen’.  Most of the craggy peaks we passed along the way were covered in white clouds and it wasn’t until our return trip, when the skies were clear, that we could appreciate the height and magnificence of the dramatic landscape. It also would have been a good day to visit Table Mountain.

Another interesting part of our drive was traversing 5 kilometres through a tunnel built under one of the mountains.

One type of housing we saw on the way.

On arrival at Aquila we were greeted with a welcoming glass of sparkling muscato from a local winery, and then we headed to the dining room for a buffet lunch. In front of the restaurant a blue horizon pool had attracted some of the guests to swim or laze about whilst waiting for their rooms to be ready. The vista beyond the pool encompassed native scrub with two grazing elephants in front of a dramatic backdrop of hills. It was a glimpse of what we were about to experience.

                                       View from our three story accommodation.

Once allocated our room we dropped our overnight bag and freshened up to meet our group for an eco-tour of the reserve and our first safari drive.

                                             Hydroponicaly grown vegetables.

                                                               Our transport.

                          One of the two elephants In the background is the resort.

                        Interesting to see the ostrichs following the two elephants.

                                                The track our vehicle followed.

                                                       Rhino and her 7 day baby.

On our eco-tour we were shown how they aqua grow a lot of the herbs and salad plants, farm their fresh water fish and worms and compost their food waste.

Next we set off in our 4x4 to drive around this 4,500 hectares reserve. It was around 4.30pm when we left and there was plenty of light and the heat of the day was starting to ebb. It is always interesting seeing all of us scrabble into our seats on the vehicles, some of us with poise, others fumble. Of course I am not saying we are either but it would take a high school group less than half the time and discussion to settle into their seats!

It was so exciting bouncing along the dirt tracks looking for ideal advantage spots to see various species. Firstly we headed to the water areas which were home to the hippos. Of course all we could see were a few sets of ears popping up out of the water every now and again. Then onto see the two elephants roaming around the scrub land. We were informed the park was only big enough to successfully feed two elephants and revegetate. Some other parks had overstocked with elephants and consequently the vegetation had not been able to regrow.

For over 2 hours we were driven along the dusty roads to see various animals. Rhinos, zebras, giraffes, antelope, birds and lions. Our guide told us to look out for a mother and baby rhino, the baby was just 7 days old. After seeing several scattered around in the low lying scrub, we then spotted the mother with her Oh Soo Cute Baby. A real highlight of the day. The lions were living in an electrified fenced area to keep the other animals safe from these dangerous and deadly carnivores.  Two lions and 5 lionesses were contentedly living here.

                                      One of the rhinos which just had a mud bath.

                                                                        Elans

                                                                  Young Zebra

At the far end of the reserve we stopped for some refreshments and a break before heading back to see the hippos which were now out of the water and wandering around.

                               Entering the Lion enclosure, electric fences and gates.

                                                               A young Giraffe

                                                    Hippos now out of the water.

A quick shower when we arrived back to our room then it was off to a buffet dinner in the restaurant. When we left after having a yummy meal, the sun had set and a camp fire was burning near the boundary of the grassed area for any guest who wished to sit and enjoy the night sky and ambience. We were too tired and wary of the mosquitos to linger, so headed off to bed and an early wake-up call for our morning safari.




.