The buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion, and rhino. The big 5. So big in fact, that my last post was far too long to actually fit everything in. I will try my hardest not to make a pun this post*.
'Big' in the name refers to the large challenge in hunting these animals, rather than their size, and thus excludes animals such as the giraffe and the hippopotamus, which is the most dangerous mammal on the African continent. Obviously now there are huge efforts to ensure these animals are not hunted, but the name persists through marketing of private game reserves and protection mechanisms for the last few remaining animals. It does not include baboons, which are the equivalent of foxes back home and considered a bit of a pest. They're quite happy anywhere, and often seem to be surrounded by beer cans, hence their contrived nickname of Beerboons (originated by me).
One of these private reserves is Aquila, situated a couple of hours drive from Cape Town, on a fantastic road that goes through the Du Toitskloof mountains, past scenic Paarl (which has a toothsome restaurant called 'terra mare'). It is breathtakingly stunning.
On to the animals themselves...first up were hippos, which I keep meaning to go hunt (with my eyes only!) after rowing, but have been put off by my last exploring adventure near the lake. I didn't spot them here immediately, but they were more obvious as we passed by on our way out.
Secondly was the first of the big five, with a cheeky water buffalo. There are two types, blue and black, of which you may read about in your own time. At this point I should point out that if you click the pictures they should get bigger.
Followed quickly by a couple of giraffes. George and Gabriella. Pretty sure they were both men, but they begin with G so...for reference, the buffalo was called William Robert.
We then traced out steps (wheels) back, and I genuinely thought that would be it. However, shortly after we pulled into the lion enclosure, and saw nothing...until someone with much sharper eyes than me spotted that the large rock shaped object was breathing. Lions are not threatening at all, and look like pathetic cats really. That said, my cat hates me, and should probably teach me all I need to know. Lenny and Liam basically lounged around, whereas Leanne, Lisa, and Laura were a bit more interested in doing something. Being lions however, I don't think they had much to actually do.
Okay, that had to be it, right? Nope, we stopped for wine. What happened during the wine? Oh yeah, elephants! Ed and Eddie. What happened before the elephants? Rhonda, Ryan, and Robbie the rhinos.
What next?! Oh...only bloody zebras and springboks! The timing is slightly out, we saw springboks earlier, but come on...I see these at work every week, it's hardly a big one. They don't even get names, although if they did, it would be Zachary, Zebadiah (Zebradiah?), repeated ad infinitum, and replacing S with Z for the 'bok.
As noted, Hermione the hippo popped up on the way out, but my photo is really blurry, so I guess I will just have to go looking again! A few days later we caught up with a cheetah (I have been getting faster with my running) before Alex's flight back.
Overall, it's incredible seeing the animals up close. I will get out to a national park at some point and see these animals truly in the wild, but with limited time it's a wonderful experience to see the sheer size of these animals moving in such majestic fashion.
All my trips until now have been great. Safari, Sagoodi!
Song of the month: Circle of Life, by The Lion King, as there's nothing more apt for this post (even if it's not a new month).
*totally worth it
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