We knew that a safari was on our “must-do” list while in South Africa, so we largely built our itinerary around it. Dana definitely wanted to do one too so the three of us debated whether we should try to include Kruger National Park, near Johannesburg, in our trip or stick to one of the game reserves near Cape Town. Ultimately we decided to stay closer to Cape Town so we’d have fewer flights and more time to relax here.
Though I suspect anyone who has been to Kruger would say Inverdoorn Game Reserve just doesn’t compare, we all had a great time there over the past two days. The drive from Cape Town took about three hours, including stops for pictures of the scenery, and we arrived just in time for lunch by the pool.
We chose a driving route that took us through the mountains at Bain's Kloof Pass - definitely made the drive more scenic!
The road flattened out as we got closer to the reserve but we were still surrounded by mountains in the distance
We had time to relax by the pool for a few hours after lunch, then we got ready for our first (of four) safaris. The schedule was arranged so that we’d do two evening and two morning safaris and we had the same ranger, Eugene, the whole time so he made sure not to take us to the same place twice. The reserve is about 20,000 acres so there were plenty of areas for us to explore! We were able to see all the different animals that Inverdoorn has on its reserve: elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, rhinos, lions, buffalo, hippos, zebra, wildebeests, kudu and springbok. The first safari definitely felt more special than the last one because we were tracking the same animals each time (Inverdoorn only has two elephants, for instance, rather than a larger herd that you would find at Kruger). Nevertheless, we had a great time driving around the reserve scouting the animals and marveling at the beautiful scenery.
Our first sighting of the elephants. The smaller one is 18 and the bigger one is 30. Eugene said they are working on getting a female elephant companion for these guys, but for now they just have each other.
Evening stroll with the elephants on day two of the safari.
A mother and baby giraffe at dawn.
On our last safari, Eugene stopped the 4x4 so we could get out and walk among the herd of giraffes.
We spotted a male cheetah lounging in the brush at dawn on day two.
The male rhino (there are also two female rhinos) with some springbok in the background.
The herd of buffalo approached our vehicle as we passed by slowly.
Some zebra and springbok feeding on hay left by the rangers.
We had a few quick rain showers while at Inverdoorn (though none happened while we were on safari, thankfully). Just as the rain was letting up Sarah ran out to snap this picture of a rainbow.
The mountains and clouds gave us a couple of beautiful sunsets – here’s just one of them.
One other benefit of waking up at 5:30 for the morning safaris: sunrises like this.
In addition to the four safaris, we were able to participate in a “cheetah interaction” on day two. A trainer introduced us to Velvet, a five-year-old female cheetah that we were able to pet for a few minutes each. It was pretty intimidating being so close to a giant, wild cat but fortunately Velvet was in a friendly mood and we all left without a scratch.
Really not sure how this picture came out so well. Most of the time I was looking at Velvet to make sure she didn’t make any quick movements. Sarah had a quick reaction with the camera when I managed to look up!
Good girl, Velvet.
Our experience at Inverdoorn was definitely one of the highlights of our entire trip. We got to observe native African animals up close in (almost) their natural habitat and the “cheetah interaction” was just amazing – never thought I’d get to play with a cheetah on a leash! Our next stop is South Africa’s famous wine country: first we’re going to Franschhoek, then the bigger city of Stellenbosch. Will be a good way to relax after a couple days in the wild!