Animals in South Africa

Wildlife in South Africa is reachable without long flights inland. The closest option to Cape Town is the private Aquila reserve: game drives run five hours early in the morning, four and a half in the afternoon and three at sunset, from 63 dollars. A full Big Five safari departing from the city takes seven and a half hours and costs 140 dollars.

The marine programme is just as dense. Gansbaai works its own Marine Big Five — whales, seals, penguins, dolphins and sharks, two hours for 81 dollars — while boats from Cape Town run out to the cage for a dive with great whites. Penguins are watched on the Cape Peninsula: a private day at the colony takes eight hours. For couples there is a horseback safari of seven and a half hours at 311 dollars.

The north of the country is big-park territory. From Johannesburg, open-vehicle drives head into Pilanesberg for twelve hours; nearby sits the Dinokeng reserve, and separate programmes fold elephant work, a horseback safari and lion viewing into a single eleven-and-a-half-hour day. GetExperience lists 21 animal programmes, from 63 to 541 dollars; pages state the type of vehicle, the meals and the transfer.