Anyone know about game reserves accessible from Cape Town?

Question

My partner and me are going to Cape Town in September and we are very keen on wildlife. Having had a wonderful time on Safari in Tsavo, Kenya, previously we would like to repeat the experience if possible, so I was wondering if anyone knew about any Game Reserves accessible from Cape Town (several hours drive)?

While Aquila seemed appealing at first we've heard some negative things about it; apparently it's basically like a big zoo with few animals that are fed at sites along the 'game drive' so that visitors are sure to see them, with the lions being kept in a separate area.

As that's not really what we are looking for I was wondering if anyone had any other recommendations?

I've seen some people mention Shamwari positively but am not sure whether it is accessible, especially since we are short on time and could not do more than an overnighter, we would also require pick-up from the hotel as we will not be renting a car.

Answer 1

About 3 hours from Cape Town is the De Hoop Nature Reserve.

http://www.places.co.za/html/785.html

It is not a big 5 Experience but does have  other wild animals and if the whales are about, they also can be seen here.

There is a page of Nature Reserves near and around Cape Town and you can see what they have to offer, how close to cape Town etc here

http://www.capenature.org.za/reserves.ht...

Click on the links at the right to get more specific info on each individual place. If you want something fairly close to Cape Town this would probably be your best bet.

farther afield but an interesting park is the Addo that Lucy has mentioned.

http://www.nature-reserve.co.za/cape-eas...

When you go to this link, there are other parks listed with links on the left hand side of the page.Some of them may be a stretch on the time you are allotting yourselves though.

There are only 2 places where the Cape Clawless Otters are found -  Tsitsikamma National Park and Kruger. Unless you fly,Kruger is probably out of the question.  Tsitsikamma National Park is closer but I think you will not have a lot of time here if you stick with the time limits you have set for yourself. But here is a link to it in case you rearrange your time.

http://www.places.co.za/html/6671.html

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Addo elephant park, it is near a town called Knysna, the most beautiful town in South Africa. If you don't go there you would have missed out. It is about 3-4 hours drive from Cape Town.