We were delighted to wake up and find that not only had we been able to get in to the port of Cape Town (which because of the weather was questionable) but we got in early. The weather was not good, however, and Table Mountain was shrouded in clouds insuring that those who had chosen that excursion would not get there today. I packed my jacket and my poncho and headed out to another game park at a good distance away, in the southern Karoo, where I have never been before in all our visits to Cape Town. I chose this excursion for that reason; I expected to see a very different terrain, and I was not disappointed. It was a beautiful 2 1/2 hour ride during which the sun came out and we were all impressed with the scenery.
We went through two mountain ranges and miles of vineyards. And although they live amidst stunning scenery unfortunately the mostly immigrant farm workers start their life in South Africa in very poor settlements such as this one.
At the Aquila Private Game Reserve, where they focus on “rescue, rehabilitate and release”, we continued to enjoy the amazing views and we saw a variety of species living in this area which had originally supported the animals but has had to have had extensive reintroduction of native plants. There are almost no trees here and we wondered what the giraffes eat. It seems that the reserve has to supplement a lot of the food sources but the lack of dense vegetation made it easier to see the animals, for sure.
Seeing this eland with the zebras was a good illustration of just how big the eland are!
The lions were in an enclosure which made it lots easier to spot them.
And the pretty little springbok is South Africa’s national animal.
We had a delicious lunch at the reserve where hundreds of people were staying. It seemed a bit too commercial for me. I prefer the friendly, comfortable feeling at Hippo Lakes where Teach Every Nation has their game park and where the guides are so much more informative than the ones at Aquila were today.
The clouds were lifting as we travelled home to the ship
but the wind nevertheless kept us from leaving as planned and so we spent another night in Cape Town.
I loved the mountain pictures!
I’m running out of adjectives to accurately praise your photography. i might have to use adverbs. The scenery shots were masterfully done. The animal photos were excellently taken. The closeups were professionally snapped. So keep up the good work unceasingly. john
I’ve never seen some of these animals before! Thank you for sharing!