Big Five Safari from Cape Town

You can see the Big Five on a day safari from Cape Town, but not for certain. The reserves within reach, Aquila, Inverdoorn and Sanbona, each say they have all five: lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo. The evening drive in the calendar below, Mathew transport and tours’ Safari Big 5 Game Reserve Sunset Game Drive, is a search for them, not a promise, and many recent reviewers report four: the leopard is the one they miss. It is from US$165 per person (checked November 2026), with a 2-3 hour game drive in an open truck.

What reviewers saw

From the 350 most recent reviews of Mathew transport and tours’ sunset safari (3 June to 11 November 2026):

• All five: “we were able to see all the Big 5 in our 2 hours drive” (17 July 2026); “seeing all of the Big Five was an absolute highlight” (6 November 2026).
• Four, no leopard: “4 of the big five, no leopard unfortunately” (24 July 2026); “we did not manage to see leopards” (14 October 2026); and on 5 November 2026 a guest who called the day “Big 4” for that reason.
• Fewer: a 3-star review on 28 September 2026 counted one giraffe far away, three ostriches, zebras, two rhinos, four elephants and two antelopes.
• No giraffe: on 20 July 2026 the giraffes had been away from the tracks for a few days.

So go for the drive, the landscape and the animals that are out that evening. If a leopard is the reason for your trip, a day this short may disappoint.

The lions are a separate case

Aquila Private Game Reserve, which reviewers name as this safari’s destination, says on its own FAQ that its lions are kept in a spacious, secure enclosure, separate from the reserve’s free-roaming wildlife, to comply with provincial and national conservation regulations (November 2026). So the lions you see are the ones in that enclosure, behind a fence. That is what the “zoo” lines in a handful of reviews are about. Is a Cape Town day safari worth it? quotes them.

Which reserves near Cape Town have all five

From each reserve’s own pages, November 2026.

Only Aquila of the three sells a day visit on its own pages; the other two sell stays. For a Big Five safari in Cape Town terms, a day with hotel pickup, Aquila is where you will be, named or not. Safari near Cape Town has the distances.

Check dates for the Big Five sunset safari

Two days, two more drives

A second game drive is the surest way to see more. Bokbus Garden Route Adventure Tours' two-day safari gives you a sunset drive and a morning one at Garden Route Game Lodge, which it puts in a malaria-free region, for US$613 per person (checked November 2026). Overnight safari from Cape Town has the details.

The other Big 5

“Marine Big 5” and “ocean safari” boat trips from the V&A Waterfront or Hout Bay look for dolphins, Cape fur seals, whales and penguins. They are a different trip, on the water, and none of them is a game drive.