If you mention Africa, no doubt most will think of its iconic wildlife. It’s why most people come to the continent, in pursuit of sighting the Big Five. The term Big Five goes back to the time of big game hunters and refers to the five most difficult, dangerous, and also the most popular trophy animals for hunters to hunt on foot, once glamorized by Ernest Hemingway and Hollywood. However, now the Big Five is most commonly used as a marketing phrase, associated with the most popular animals seen on photographic safaris.

So while in South Africa, it seemed imperative to include a visit to the savannah, where we went to the southern Karoo region, a two-hour drive outside Cape Town, to Aquila Private Game Reserve. Aquila, a private lodge and preserve, has gone to massive efforts and expense to source and re-introduce wildlife into the Cape region with great emphasis placed on wildlife conservation and educational experience. Karoo, in Swahili, means “dry land” and, on almost 25,000 vast, bush acres, Aquila fosters the preservation and advancement of Africa’s native game, and provides viewing experiences for it’s overnight and day guests.

If you can remember BRELL, you’ll have no trouble remembering the Big Five, which is an acronym for Buffalo, Rhinocerous, Elephant, Lion, and Leopard. We saw three out of five, plus notable other animals, and also learned a lot about them all from our knowledgeable driver guide, in the open four-wheel-drive vehicles that took us, for several hours, across the dry landscape. For instance…

Hippo, Aquila Private Game Reserve, South Africa

Black Rhinoceros, Aquila Private Game Reserve, South Africa

Zebra, Aquila Private Game Reserve, South Africa

African Elephant, Aquila Private Game Reserve, South Africa

Also known as Black Death, the Cape Buffalo, able to charge at speeds up to 35 miles an hour, can be extremely dangerous and is said to have killed more big game hunters than any other animal in Africa. We did not see buffalo on our safari, but the seemingly graceless and ungainly hippos we saw lounging by the lagoon are considered to be the most dangerous of all. In fact, they are credited with causing more human deaths than all the big five combined. With very powerful jaws and sharp teeth, they are capable of biting a human in half. They have very sensitive skin and can become easily sunburned and even die from overexposure, so it is dangerous to get between a hippo and its water source, as they rely on water for protection.

Slight and sprightly springboks, the national animal of South Africa, are plentiful at the reserve, common in the wild, and easy to support on farms. Their meat is prized fare on menus in more upscale Cape Town restaurants, much like game meats such as deer, elk, or even ostrich. This medium-sized brown and white antelope-gazelle of southwestern Africa is extremely fast and can reach speeds up to 55 miles per hour and leap 13 feet in the air.

I could photograph zebras all day long. With their bold and graphic striped coats, unique to each individual, they are like a mythical horse. Their remarkable patterns are mesmerizing. No wonder the collective noun for a group of zebras is known as a “dazzle”.

The rhinoceros is seriously endangered. Even in the highly protected Aquila Reserve, where the staff wear t-shirts promoting “Saving Private Rhino”, they have been savagely poached to sell in Asia, where there is great demand for their horns, believed to cure a range of illnesses.

Elephants, those giant, lumbering herbivores, have very sensitive skin despite it’s great thickness, and often throw dust on their backs to cool and protect them from the heat and sun.

Due to their predatory nature, lions are kept within a separate fenced region at Aquila, where, during the heat of the day, they sleep and lounge about. Their activity generally peaks after dusk until dawn, when the lionesses do most of the hunting. While resting, they look deceivingly like soft, gentle, giant cats, despite strict warnings from our guide to refrain from leaning outside the vehicle.

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Back at the main lodge, we enjoyed lunch featuring many local dishes, and explored the resort, which also caters to overnight guests wanting to experience early morning game drives and the wide open spaces under a massive clear night sky. On the ride back to Cape Town, we saw native baboons scampering on the side of the highway, craggy mountains, and rows of vineyards in the fertile valleys. If I needed a reason to justify returning to South Africa, it might be to complete my list of Big Five sightings, or to experience a starry night on the savannah. But that’s only if I needed a reason.