Aquila Safari Lodge

We arrived after a 2 hour drive through some stunning scenery as we travelled in the shadows of mountains. As we pulled into Aquila Game Reserve the boys were excited as to what was ahead of them as the setting was fantastic with superb lodges. Our arrival timed nicely with lunch and the buffet style lunch made sure that everyone got a good feed before a quick dip in the freezing pool.





We set off on our game drive at 3.30pm in 3 vehicles and were excited to see what animals were out and about. It didn’t take long for us to spot 3 hippos lazily enjoying the late afternoon sun before they headed off under the cover of darkness to find some food. Next on our drive were a couple of male African elephants that were taking in some food surrounded by ostrich. The driver informed us that elephants have over 60,000 muscles in their trunks and have the ability to pick up a needle with the end of it. The boys were enjoying the sights and found it really informative as the driver was obviously incredibly knowledge.






A little further into our drive we came across 4 giraffes which are the smallest in Africa due to the lack of tall trees. The backdrop to seeing these animals was amazing as the sun slowly dropped down behind the mountains.





After a quick stop for drinks and snacks we headed into the lion enclosure for a close encounter. Fortunately the lions were pretty relaxed and weren’t that interested in us but it allowed us to get really close. The driver continued to tell us about the rehabilitation programme that the park ran where they took lions that were being reared with steroids to be used for big game prize hunting and got them ready to be placed back into the wild where they belonged.







The final stop on our tour around the reserve was to spot some White Rhino. They were beautiful in an ugly sort of way as they moved around the vehicles trying to work out whether they wanted to challenge us or not. Luckily for us they decided they weren’t going to chase the trucks today. 





After the drive we were treated to an evening buffet which included Springbok fillet and a huge amount of food to ensure everyone was well fed. An early night was in store as were waking early (6am) to eg out for another game drive to hopefully catch a glimpse of a leopard and to see what the animals do in the early mornings.

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