South Africa 2019 – Aquila Game Reserve

Aquila Game Reserve

We booked a visit to Aquila Game Reserve a couple of hours from Paarl for our last day in South Africa. Our reservation was for 12 PM; we left Paarl around 9 AM to give us enough time to find the place. It was not a cheap option at about $125 per person, but it was the closest place to see wildlife and they advertise the big 5 are there. The last time my daughter was in a game park was when she was 1 year old on our trip to the Kruger National Park. My son was in a game park when he was 5 on our 2005 trip to Namibia. Neither child remembered much from those trips; my son does remember some of the trip to Namibia due to the pictures we have.

The Aquila package comes with a buffet lunch before the game drive. Oddly, it does not include drinks, even water. The main lodge building has great views and a beautiful pool, but it is built for tourists; you can tell. The guides started loading the vehicles at about 1 PM; we hopped on and I took an outside seat so I could take pictures. There were 6 or 7 vehicles that would be going out at the same time and the trip was for about 2 hours.

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Game Drive

Within a few minutes, you could see hippos, Cape buffalo, and a rhino. The guide explained that a lot of the animals were rescued from other farms, etc. After a short drive, there were a dozen or so rhinos and several dozen zebras in the same vicinity. We were very close to them and they did not seem very concerned that we were invading their space. Again, the guide provided more information about the wildlife in the reserve.

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We moved on to another area that was in its own enclosure; it was not a cage, but a section of the reserve. In this area, there were 5 or 6 lions that just relaxing in the brush. One thing that I noticed is they seem to have more loose skin than the lions I had seen in the Kruger. Some of the lions were rescued from canned hunting farms. The guide parked here for about 15 minutes so everyone could get pictures. As we pulled out of the lion part we saw a parked truck; in the back was a zebra and several of the employees standing beside the truck. Our next stop was a rest area so we could use the bathroom, stretch our legs, get some water, etc.

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After the Break

After a 20-30 minute break at the rest area, we headed back towards the lion section, passing several giraffes on the way. As we neared the turnoff to the lion section, the guide asked if we wanted to see the lions eat. Apparently, the zebra in the truck had been gored by a rhino and died; they were feeding it to the lions. We were able to get up close while they ate the zebra.

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The next section had a couple of elephants that didn’t mind us being there as they strolled by the vehicle.

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Unfortunately, the wildlife associated food with the vehicles and waited fairly close to the road in case food was on the way. This made it feel like a zoo and not a true wildlife park. If you have never seen animals in the wild, then Aquila Game Reserve would be awesome. However, the experience was not on par with Etosha in Namibia or the Kruger National Park in South Africa. It was similar to the Serengeti Safari at Bush Gardens but it did feel more realistic due to being in the wild and not an amusement park. It was all we could do on this trip, so we made the best of it. I would recommend Etosha or the Kruger if you have that option.

See other day trips you can take from Cape Town here.

The two videos below are not for people with a weak stomach, watch at your own risk.