Woolly says – Another bright morning and our ride picked us up bang on time, today was a super exciting one and something that none of us had done before, we were off on safari.

A 2 ½ hour drive from Cape Town is the Aquila Private Game Reserve and Spa, home to the legendary big 5 (lions, elephants, buffalos, leopards, and rhinos), I was twitching with excitement. The 10 000 hectare wildlife conservancy sits between the Langeberg and the Outeniqua Mountains in the Western Cape, tracing its origins back to 1999, when its owner, Searl Derman, sought to share his passion for wildlife and conservation with Cape Town. Driven by his goal to reintroduce South Africa’s magnificent Big 5 animals to the Western Cape, he set out to find the perfect piece of land. He was fortunate to come across a nearby nature reserve that would later become Aquila Private Game Reserve.

What started as a sanctuary for various antelope species has evolved into a thriving home of the Big 5 that roam freely on the reserve. We were following in the footsteps of many of the rich and famous including, Vin diesel, Rihanna, Mariah Carey, MC Hammer, Margaret Thatcher and Master Chef of which Jo and I are big fans.

Having checked in we took a wander around the resort with its fabulous looking pool and gardens. Lunch was included in our ticket along with a free glass of bubbles by the time we had enjoyed the feast I felt like royalty and we hadn’t even seen an animal!

Climbing abroad the covered truck we went through a security gate and bounced along the sandy track keeping everything crossed that we might see one or two of the big 5 as nothing is guaranteed with nature.

Our excitement went up several notches as our first sitting happened and the cry went up ‘Giraffe’ and there they were.

The reserve has three of them and all three were grazing from the trees, as the guide told us all about them the cameras clicked away merrily.

On we went bumping along the sand looking at the stunning views.

We circuited a large body of water and just on the bank there seemed to be some large grey rocks, ‘Hippo’ I shouted as the truck came to a halt and we all peered into distance to see them.

Off again with the bouncing reaching a new level when in the distance I spied a horn attached to a Rhino, the driver pulled up right next to the huge beast which was a little worrying if they decided to charge at us and possibly ‘crash’ into the transport. With everyone happy with their photo’s we set off again going further into the park.

Next came the Water Buffalo and a whole herd of the loveliest Zebra’s, we sat admiring them as they grazed the bushy landscape before moving on once more.

We entered a fenced area where the lions and leopards lived in their own section so they didn’t eat everything else. Their area was huge and the ranger told us that they are only fed once a week as they would be if left to their own devices, I wasn’t sure that only one meal a week would be enough for me!  The whole truck stared intently at every rock, stone and crevice but there wasn’t a single pussy cast to be seen, no matter I was already delighted with our findings.

As we left the enclosed area and rounded a corner my excitement went into overdrive as my distant cousins wandered into view. Four huge African elephants waved there trunks at me and flapped their ears in recognition of a relative as I waved frantically at them. Fun fact of the day, African elephant ears are, rather helpfully, the shape of Africa so they are easy to tell apart from the Indian elephants we had seen on our travels in Sri Lanka.

With the elephants seen I really didn’t mind if we saw anything else but a little more was to come as we rounded the plain and started heading back to the resort with another group of Zebra’s, some baboons in the distance, an ostrich flapping its wings in its mating dance and some Spring bucks, I just hoped that Jo’s camera was picking up all the wonders.

Finally dusty and slightly bruised from the amount of bouncing we left the reserve and changed back into our road transport for the journey back to Cape Town. An incredible day had been had by all and certainly not one we would forget.