Is there anything more romantic than a wild getaway? Our ‘Big Five’ Safari Getaway at Aquila Game Reserve was such a spoil – filled with close wildlife sightings, relaxing spa treatments and lazy pool chair reading.

Although only 2 hours away from the city of Cape Town, Aquila still has an “in the middle of nowhere” feel to it. Set amongst the succulent, dusty orange Klein Karoo and Renosterveld vegetation, the reserve is 10 000 hectares of open space and roaming wildlife.

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Waking up in the wild

The day visitors go on their game drive in the afternoons and the overnight guests (us) go exploring in the mornings and late afternoons. We love that they keep the day visitors separate and almost out of sight ;).

Our favourite drive was in the morning. We arrived at the parking area to steaming coffee, rusks and a few other sleepy but excited guests. We all hopped into the safari trucks and Rudi and I immediately wrapped ourselves up in the complimentary blankets.

The combination of cuddling up next to Rudi in the truck, feeling the fresh dewy air on my face and trying to spot wildlife in the morning’s first golden light was such a magical way to start my safari experience.

The game drives are led by the rangers who take time to provide interesting facts about each new sighting. Before Aquila we had been on mostly self-drive safaris so having a ranger was such a value-add. We actually learnt so much about the animals without even realising it.

We also loved that the foreigners on the game drives were not just getting to see African wildlife for the first time but they were learning of the Rhino poaching issues, the beautiful family bond between elephants and the reason why zebra’s have their stripes…

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Time to unwind

As much as we look forward to game drives, chill time by the pool is as exciting for us. We took our full bellies to the pool right after eating a huge buffet breakfast (not ideal but whose judging). The sun was so warm that we ended up just reading and lying there for hours. We actually forgot that we were in a game reserve until we noticed a herd of elephants in the distance walking down the mountain.

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Couple spoils

After lunch we went for a quick couple’s massage at their renown African Spa! In the past we’ve only been to quite rustic National Parks to view wildlife – so getting to mix the outdoors experience with a luxurious spa treatment was pure heaven!! The design of the Spa is beautiful. If it wasn’t for the sunny weather we would’ve spent all day in their heated pools.

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Golden light game drives

The late afternoon safari stops off half way for a bathroom/drinks break. We loved this little white wine stop which happened every evening in that glowy pre-sunset hour. We had such good sightings of rhinos, elephants, giraffes and hippos and this stop-off was such a fun time to just chat about our sightings and bask in the moment of it all.

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Not to fat-shame anyone, but the lions at Aquila are definitely on the chubby side :). They have been rescued from canned hunting and caged backgrounds, where their claws were removed and their hunting abilities never formed. So although they are not completely “wild’ in that respect, they seem so happy to finally have the space to be free – retiring in “the pridelands” that Aquila has provided them.

Aquila offers half day, full day or overnight packages. We really recommend staying overnight if your budget allows because our favourite moments were definitely in those off-peak hours when most of the guests had left.

We stayed in the lodge section, in the premier room which faces the reserve (we saw plenty of elephants from our balcony so this view was definitely worth it). If you have the budget – the best option would definitely be the ‘Premier Karoo Cottages’ which looks so cosy and secluded.

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Searching for the sunset

After our late afternoon drive we wandered up the small mountain behind our apartment block in search of a sunset spot. We arrived at the top to the most incredible view of both the lodge and the reserve.

As we sat down the sun disappeared behind the mountains and we watched as the remaining light changed from gold to pink and almost seconds later, to a star filled darkness that only the bush can provide. How crazy to think that this was once the home and hunting grounds for the original hunter-gatherers – the Khoi and San people.

It may have been a slightly scary trek back down through the snakey bush with only our cellphone lights (we didn’t exactly think this part through), but sitting up there was our favourite memory from our stay! It was one of those unexpected travel moments that will stay with us and warm our hearts whenever we need a happy memory to return to.

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View our stay at Aquila’s neighbouring ‘Big Five’ Luxury Safari Game Reserve – just 40 minutes further at >> Inverdoorn Private Game Reserve.