We had a great time. We saw all of the Big 5 close up and personal, especially the elephants, their clash with the rhinos (the rhinos the winners), and finally the lions at feast. There were also the hippopotami in and out of their pool, and in the latter situation getting very nervous when a delicate little impala came tripping up to the water for a drink. The guide could have been clearer for the folk at the back of the truck, apparently, but we were seated up front, which was a great listening as well as viewing platform. Good breakfast and lunch at the hotel, and really the only criticism is the length of time we had to wait after breakfast was over for the tour to start; a bit wearing when we had made a very early start indeed from Cape Town (2 hours away). The drive through the Franschhoek mountains and the Heck valley was beautiful both ways.

First the down side--there are still not a lot of animals at Aquila. The Game Reserve is only 13 years old and is still stocking up. They also lost a few animals to poachers. Now, the up side--everything. The 2-hour ride out of Cape Town to Aquila was beautiful and showed scenery not seen in Cape Town. At arrival, we had champagne and an excellent breakfast and then some free time before the driving began. While in the open buses, we got very close to the "Big 5" and spent a lot of time seeing them. Very exciting. The guides tried to give you a lot of good angles and viewing points for pictures. We saw an "argument" between and elephant and two rhino (elephant won). The game reserve is fairly large in size and the guides had an idea where the wildlife was and drove you to the animals. Stopped half way in the middle of the drive for champagne and to stretch outside the bus. Finished with a good lunch. We didn't have time to get to Kruger--thank goodness we took this tour since I feel like we would have really missed something critical if we got to South Africa and didn't see the animals in their native habitats.

An outstanding day trip, not a safari but if you only have a short time to see animals in the wild this is great. Hospitality and food was superb.