A Taste of the Breathtaking South African Countryside During the Drive to Aquila Safari

 

Beautiful country.

That much it seemed everybody could agree on whenever discussing South Africa. even during the days of apartheid, it seemed that everyone would take some time out to describe it as a truly "beautiful country," often also pointing out that it is plentiful in terms of natural resources, as well.

So much did I hear this, in fact, that my desire to visit the country only grew over time, instead of diminishing. It was not one of those things which simply went away over time, put to the side and largely forgotten. 

Far from it. 

I remember thinking that, someday, I wanted to make the trip there. I got semi-serious about it back in 2004, but it just did not happen. In recent years, the desire, as well as the capability, grew.

Then finally, this year felt like the right time. The circumstances were right, or so I felt. Finally, I took the plunge and committed.

Not everything about the trip went as I had hoped or planned it to. Also, there were plenty of things which I had been absolutely determined to see which, as it turns out, I did not see. That is true of Cape Town, as well as South Africa as a country more generally.

Still, I am glad to have finally seen South Africa. At least, part of it. And indeed, I can attest to the fact that those parts which I did see were truly as beautiful as people had described. 

That was particularly true of two drives which I was a part of (on buses, not driving personally). The most recent one was of the Cape of Good Hope, and I will try to sort through the pictures of that more completely over time.

However, the first was the drive to Aquila Game Reserve in Greenpoint, close to Touws River (Touwsrivier in Afrikaans) in the Southern Karoo region. We followed the N1 highway, past Paarl, through the surprisingly long Huguenot Tunnel) and then traveled across the Hex River Valley (I don't remember all of those names, but just affirmed all of this according to the facility's website: https://www.aquilasafari.com/contact-us/). 

So I cannot tell you precisely where all of these individual pictures were taken (although some of them I can probably identify, albeit at a later date). However, I just wanted to share some of these pictures, because they reveal a truly breathtaking countryside. This land may have been (and still may be) troubled. But after seeing this, I could understand how anyone living here would be extremely reluctant to leave it. After all, I had never been to South Africa myself prior to this trip, but was sad to leave it all the same.

And I want to go back someday.

Anyway, here are the pictures.

Enjoy.