Lions & Hippos at Aquila Private Game Reserve | South Africa
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 มิ.ย. 2024
- #Lions #AquilaPrivateGameReserve #Safari
The last 2 safari game drives of our stay at Aquila Private Game Reserve, near Cape Town, South Africa. We had already extended our stay from a single night to two nights to make the most of our trip out to the game reserve.
As part of Aquila's overnight package you get two safaris included in the price, one in the evening and one in the morning. Whilst the first two games drives were great, we were yet to see any lions. We also hadn't seen a lot of the hippos and also wanted to see them out of the water.
Luckily enough, we saw a lioness on our afternoon drive and by the next morning, the other two lionesses and the male lion had come down from the mountain and were relaxing near some water. We also managed to see all of the other animals within the reserve during the two safaris including the elephants, giraffes, zebra, African buffalo, multiple types of antelope and finally the hippos out of the water.
As part of a two night stay you also get free access to the spa with hot and cold pools, sauna and steam room.
Overall, it was a great little trip, especially for those had never done a safari before. It's close to Cape Town (2.5 hours) so really accessible.
I don't think it's fair to try and compare a private game reserve that's 10,500 hectares with the big national parks like Kruger (which is over 2 million hectares). They are two completely different experiences and whilst you will definitely have a more authentic safari experience at the larger national parks, what Aquila offers is great value for money.
The only real constructive criticism that I would have is that they advertise it as 'Big 5 Safari', but they don't have any leopards. They also have statues of cheetahs...but no cheetahs. Not the end of the world but potentially a bit misleading. Regardless, thoroughly enjoyed it!
0:00 - Afternoon nap & safari
1:19 - Hippos
1:56 - Giraffes at the watering hole
2:21 - Rhinos
3:12 - Lioness
4:46 - Sparkling wine & rest
5:13 - Rain in the semi desert
5:52 - The water pigs
7:01 - Spa time
8:01 - Morning Safari
8:32 - Pride of lions
8:57 - Curious elephant
10:14 - Review of Aquila Private Game Reserve
Luvv those battle unicorns between giraffe and lion. Lions are just gangsters, peaky blinders razor gang. 😊
@oomlungu - haha 'lions are gangsters'
@@WiththeSparrows Oh, they sure are filthy bullies. Anything that eats a newborn baby and cannot face an adult buffalo, and lives in a razor gang, is a gangster.
7:34 traveling with your own lioness.
In Afrikaans Hippos are called "Seekoei" which directly translates to "Sea Cow" 😅😅
So my daughter, as a toddler, called them a seepkoei. Soap cow. Quite apt
@Jay-Pee Phillips - that's good to know! It's fitting, though I usually think of Manatees as Sea Cows? Sea cows, sea pigs, either way they're very amusing out of the water.
@@WiththeSparrows indeed
Nice video. Many thanks. Can I ask when you travelled there and what time your drives were at? We’re going in early December this year so your video was really helpful. Also, did you use a bean bag, monopod or any form of stabilisation for your camera? Thanks again. Bobby.
@Bobby Hogg - we were there in November so hopefully December will be slightly warmer for you! The morning drive is pretty early, I think around 7/7.30am, then there is one at 11.30 and one before sunset (I think at about 4.30/5). Might be worth emailing them for that info as I'm not 100% sure on that.
I just used my extendable tripod (obviously not extended)....so essentially like a monopod. I also freehanded some of it, depending on the circumstances. I tend to find that if the jeep's engine is running that it causes too much vibration, even if you rest the monopod on your thigh so free handing is usually best. Once the jeep stops completely you can then get more stable shots with the monopod.
@@WiththeSparrows thank you for that reply. It’s very helpful. We are doing it as part of a pre cruise land tour starting from Capetown so I suspect our one drive will be around 11.30am. So I doubt if the light will be great - but you can’t have everything! Your comments on the monopod were also very helpful so, again, many thanks. Bobby
Nice, but it has the vibe of a glorified zoo. Not the true wild like Kruger. The animals look bored.