Safari

On Sunday we woke up at 6am. Milja and I had crawled into bed about 3 hours earlier after being out in Claremont! We were off to Aquila Safari, a game reserve about 2 hours North-East from Cape Town.

We left at about 6:40am after a bit of a struggle with India. She was a tad ratty, I guess because from being woken up so early. I drove as Minna had to take care of India, Milja and India slept, with Matias and Sinekaya in the back (Heikki is in America).

The drive up was quite eventful. It was raining hard as we drove through and out of Cape Town. We were in a bit of a hurry as we had to be at the safari no later than 9am. We drove through a loooong tunnel, had to wait about 5-10mins at traffic lights (they were re-tarmacking a ridiculously long part of the road so it took ages for the lights to change), got overtaken by, then overtook (!), a fire engine, went past the burning car that the fire engine was 'racing' to, and then we got a bit anxious as we thought we'd gone too far (we had no clue where we were) past the safari and had to call Tapio (M&H's friend) for help. Nevertheless, the scenery in the countryside is amazing - lots of hills, valleys and open areas, constantly changing. We arrived at just past 9am.

Once safely in the game reserve, we were given a free drink and shown around the different buildings. The place was really nice. There were a few building including a restaurant and offices, a pen with lynx in, a pond where 4 crocodiles lived, a swimming pool, cheetahs and lots of cool-looking chalets and huts where it is possible to stay. We had about 15 minutes to eat our (free) breakfast - a large buffet - and then we were off out to the jeeps.

The jeeps had space for about 9 people plus the driver and the guide in the front. We set off and immediately saw some hippos bathing in a reservoir. First time I've seen hippos (that I can remember anyway). It was very very windy out on the open areas, meaning it was necessary to wrap up in the provided fleeces. Minna and India had about 5 fleeces (their own included)on them, they looked much warmer than me in my shorts! We drove to an ancient rock painting (2,500 years old), past springbok, rhinos, a giraffe and through the lion enclosure - they have been separated from the rest of the reserve so they don't eat everything :) We then went past some younger lion cubs and some zebra, then headed back to the complex. It took us about 2 hours to go all the way around.

We drove past the complex and we wondered where we were going. We were on our way to the elephants, who were in a different area, a large pen. nearer the entrance. We stopped, got out of the jeeps and fed/stroked the elephants, who were African, and quite small. I don't know if they were fully grown or not. The elephant keeper said that they can understand different commands, similar to dogs, although not as many. We had a good time watching them as people fed them with fruit and vegetables.

After this we were taken back to the complex, where we relaxed for a bit, Milja and I stroked the cheetahs (over 16s only) and we waited for lunch to be ready. There was another large buffet at 12:30, which filled me up a treat. The food was really good. After eating we went outside briefly to look at the crocodiles. We left at about 1:50pm for home, Minna driving this time, giving me the chance to doze off listening to Minna's iPod in the back.

I'm not sure the day was worth the 800-odd Rand (about £65) price, but the food must have contributed to a considerable part of it. It was a lovely day, I'm sure it would be amazing in the summer without the wind and with some sun. We were a bit disappointed with the amount of animals we saw, maybe we were hoping for it to be more like a zoo with animals everywhere, but in all I enjoyed myself and I think everyone else did too.

[Blogged with Flock]

Dan | 08:07
You can leave a comment.