Kruger2Canyons.com

SKUKUZA- Day visitors to the Kruger National Park (KNP) will no longer be able to book their entry as this will be done on a strict first come, first served basis.

"We decided to do away with this day visit booking system as it created logistical problems and was considered unfair by many of our visitors", commented the Park's Director of Public Relations, Mr William Mabasa.

Gate quotas will still be enforced, particularly over busy periods like the upcoming Easter Weekend, so it is suggested that members of the public get to their gate of choice as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

"We will honour those bookings already made for this coming weekend as long as the people that made them arrive before 9am at the gate specified on the day specified", added Mr Mabasa.

KNP gate quotas are based on considerations like the amount of tourist infrastructure in the vicinity of the gate, environmental impact and various other conservation reasons. Gate quotas do not affect guests with overnight accommodation bookings.

The KNP has ten entrance gates: Crocodile Bridge, Malelane, Numbi, Phabeni, Paul Kruger, Orpen, Phalaborwa, Punda Maria, Pafuri and Giriyondo.

The current quotas for day visitors are (# people NOT vehicles, by gate):

Pafuri – 300, Punda Maria – 300, Phalaborwa – 500, Orpen – 500, Kruger – 500, Phabeni – 500, Numbi – 500, Malelane – 500, Crocodile Bridge – 300 and Giriyondo – 300.

Labels: crocodile bridge, giriyondo, kruger, orpen, paul kruger, phabeni, Phalaborwa, punda maria

JOHANNESBURG- More than R32 million will be spent on improvements to the Kruger National Park over the next few months, a spokesperson for the Park said on Friday.

"The developments and upgrades will include camps, day-visitor areas, reception buildings, entrance gates and facilities for scientific research at various locations throughout the two-million-hectare National Park," spokesperson Raymond Travers said in a statement.

The money will come from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

River-view accommodation units will be upgraded and the Keartlands guest house will be rebuilt at the Lower Sabie main camp, while the sewage works at the camp will also be upgraded.

The Orpen camp and entrance gate will be developed to the tune of R4.5 million. Existing accommodation units will be upgraded and a new day visitors' area will be created. A new swimming pool and reception building are also on the cards.

At Satara main camp, development and construction worth R10.4 million is planned.

A day visitors' site and swimming pool will be added, while the caravan park and some of the accommodation units will be upgraded.

The Frankel guest house, which was destroyed by a fire, is also to be rebuilt.

The sewage works and oxidation plant will also be upgraded.

Letaba main camp will get a facelift of about R4.5 million.

Construction of a new day visitors' site and swimming pool has already started, Travers said.

"The camp itself will also receive a new swimming pool."

Phalaborwa entrance gate will be upgraded and an office complex and research facility added. These upgrades will cost R5.8 million.

Shingwedzi main camp's tourist accommodation will see upgrades worth R1.6 million, and Punda Maria camp will receive accommodation upgrades worth about R500,000.

Some of the work has already started and most of it will be completed in the next year, Travers said.

Labels: letaba, lower sabie, orpen, Phalaborwa, punda maria, restcamps, SANParks, shingwedzi

HOEDSPRUIT (Kruger Times)- Since the early 1990s the Kruger Park has been hoping to move and upgrade the Orpen Gate of the Kruger National Park. There have been numerous setbacks along the way, but it appears that a green light may finally be in sight for the relocation.

Critical to the movement of the gate is the deproclamation of the national road leading up to the present gate. The intention to deproclaim the road was advertised in 2001. Following an objection by a landowner who was worried about access to his property if the gate was moved, the process came to a temporary standstill.

Talks between the landowner, Jasper Pirow, and the Kruger National Park then resulted in a solution to the problem, and Pirow withdrew his objection in 2003. Communities in the area then raised further objections, stating that they were not properly consulted in the process.

According to Thomas Shivambu from the provincial roads agency, the committee charged with advising the MEC on whether or not the road should be deproclaimed also caused a further delay. “They were unable to agree on the constitutionality of the board.” The board meets at Thulamahashe as the Orpen Road falls under the jurisdiction of the Bohlabela District Municipality.

The road board has finally elected a chairman, and according to Albert Tendani from the Department of Public Works at Thulamahashe, they have agreed in principle to deproclaim the road.

Board members then conducted a site inspection together with Kruger Park personnel and Welverdiend community members on February 16, 2005. The community members will report back to their villages on the issue, and return their comments to the road board. If the communities are positive about the deproclamation of the road and the movement of the gate, the road board is expected to inform the MEC that they believe the road should be deproclaimed.

According to Natalia Ndabe-Mapfumo, the drawn out process has caused her region to keep applying for funds to build the gate. The estimated cost of building the gate has risen from R200,000 to over a million Rand.

The park is hoping to construct a new gate which includes housing for the guards and a curio shop. The curio shop will be run by the local communities with help from the park’s social ecologists.

Moving the gate will also mean that tourists will have easier access to a newly developed cultural village that the local communities have started.

by Lynette Strauss, Kruger Times

Labels: orpen