History of the park. Book via WhatsApp. Specials Enquiry. Contact Nr. Nr of Adults. Nr of Children. Arrival Date. An application in by the contractor to acquire a liquor license was summarily refused by the Board.
It was but the first of many similar requests to the Board that fell on deaf ears — until it was eventually decided in the sixties to make liquor available to tourists. One of issues that the Board had to attend to in the early years, was the type of accommodation to be provided as well as the layout of the rest camps.
Already with the planning of the new Pretoriuskop by architect Moerdyk, more definite attention was given to the aspects such as aesthetics, and to deviate from the barracks-like outlay with huts in straight rows. The issue of the type of roofing to be used resulted in dispute amongst the Board members, with some being opposed to thatch on grounds that they offered refuse to vermin.
This matter was resolved in favour of thatch roofing. As early as in a proposal for building a hotel at Skukuza was rejected on grounds that it would be impractical. In an application was received from Messrs Mostert and Potgieter of Johannesburg to build a hotel in the Park. This application was also declined, but merely because at that time there were no plans to build hotels in the Park.
With the high pressure on the Board to urgently provide more accommodation, an appeal was again made to erect a hotel of some beds. This appeal even had the backing of The Star. In the thought of hotels even had support from the Board. Councilor Papenfus pointed out that should the Board erect its own hotels, it would be able to exercise full control over them.
His proposal was supported by councilor WA Campbell, but made no impression on the chairperson and it was summarily rejected. In a businessman by the name of Lawson enquired about the Boards position on hotels on the Park boundary and specifically whether the Board would consider making additional gates available in case of such boundary hotels.
The Boards took a far more compromising position and was supportive of the principle on condition that the hotels would maintain a dignified reputation and that the Board would not suffer any losses due to tourists being lured away from the Park. As a result of these negotiations it was decided that additional gates would be provided along the Nsikazi River and at Toulon to assist Lawson. He was planning to erect two hotels, one at Plaston and the other on the farm Toulon.
When Lawson requested the Board whether his guests could pay reduced admission fees on second and subsequent visits, once his hotels are in operations, the Board rejected it outright. This state of affairs resulted in the business not being viable and nothing came of these plans. Due to lack of funds experienced during the early development years, the Board gladly accepted donations from willing private individuals and institutions.
He later made more donations and one of the rondavels funded from such donations was converted to a museum currently in Skukuza rest camp. As a result of the location of the Park and the long distances that needed to be covered to get there, the provision of fuel was crucial from the beginning. Finality of the agreement could not be achieved immediately. During this period the warden pointed out that petrol was only needed at Satara and Letaba, as ex-ranger T Duke, owner of the Bantu Shop at Skukuza, intended to also erect a petrol pump.
The rest camps at Crocodile Bridge and Pretoriuskop were near enough to petrol pumps outside the Park. In the meantime Shell also applied to sell petrol in the Park. By August Pegasus petrol was already available at Satara and Letaba. When Texas, a third oil company, also applied to sell its product, the Board decided at the end of that the product of only one company was to be sold in the Park.
A final decision was not taken and the matter was referred to the executive subcommittee for further consideration. The initial decision could not be adhered to and it was decided to market only two types of petrol, Pegasus in Letaba and Satara and from also at Crocodile Bridge, while Shell Company received approval to sell its products at Skukuza and Malelane.
Apparently Shell did not erect any fuel pumps at Malelane and in it was reported that Atlantic petrol was sold there and later also at Pretoriuskop, even though the request by Atlantic to sell its fuel across the park, was turned down. When the Park was opened to tourists in the late twenties, there were rather few rules and regulations besides that bringing in firearms were prohibited.
When overnight facilities were created in the reserve, tourists were not even compelled to return to the rest camp at night. They could casually make their camp fires in the bush and then spend the night there. It soon became evident that this state of affairs would result in mischief and in November the first list of regulations, compiled for the Board, by AA Schoch, was published. By it was pointed out to the Board that the regulations did not have much meaning of they could not be enforced.
The Board then decided that as from a car or motorcycle patrol would be implemented in order to that would care of law enforcement. This idea was later abandoned as there were insufficient funds to implement the patrol service. In the Automobile Association AA offered to station a road scout at Skukuza to undertake road patrols.
The Board was obliging on condition that the AA official would not interfere with the external contractor offering a vehicle repair service at Skukuza. The AA and the external contractor could not reach a satisfactory agreement, thereby preventing the patrol service from being implemented. This service was implemented during the tourist season of , with the undertaking that this would not only be an auxiliary service, but that the AA official would also assist with enforcement of the regulations.
The executive subcommittee of the Board felt so strongly about the abovementioned aspect that they even suggested that the AA approach the Department of Justice so that their official could be appointed as a special police constable.
This patrol service rapidly appeared to be a great success, and in the Royal Automobile Club also applied to implement a similar service. The application was approved and it was decided that the AA would attend to the area south of the Olifants River, while the RAC would patrol the area to the north thereof. While the first scheduled service to the Park was only implemented during the late sixties, the Armstrong Siddeley Development Company already applied in to offer such a service.
The initial application was met with approval, but when the Board requested a more formal proposal, the matter came to a halt. In August , councilor Papenfus again raised the issue of an air service.
He informed the Board that he had been in contact with the Johannesburg Light Plane Club and that he was confident that a regular air service could be implemented in It was only in that the Johannesburg Aeronautical Association previously known as the Johannesburg Light Plane Club formally lodged an application for the introduction of such a service.
It was also proposed that such a service would be offered to Satara. The Board was concerned, especially after a report in The Star that flights over the Park would cause panic among the game. In the proposal it was emphasized that flights would not be introduced for game viewing but merely to transport tourists to the Park.
It was undertaken to maintain an altitude of at least feet above ground level. The Board favourable considered the proposal. It saw this not only as a additional source of revenue, but also realized that it would be convenient in cases of emergency.
During the initial negotiations, Malelane was identified as a preferred alternative to Satara, but by June , the latter was decided upon and an area 10 kilometers north of Satara was pointed out as the chosen location for the development of an air strip. It was agreed that minimum flying altitude would be feet above ground level, that the Association would develop and maintain the landing strip themselves and that they would have a contract for five years to operate the air strip.
The Association also undertook to provide vehicles and staff that would take tourists on excursions. Admission fees of 50c per person would be charged and the agreement was finalized in September It appeared that Civil Aviation did not agree that flights below feet were prohibited over the Park. It was decided that in cases of the landing strip being used for private planes, an admission fee of R10 would be charged.
An agreement in the contract between the Board and the Association, stipulated that private flights would not be allowed. On arrival the tourists are met at the aerodrome by a roomy five-seater sedan car, and the pilot, who is well acquainted with the KNP, undertakes the dual role of chauffeur and guide. The first plane of the club landed during at the Mavumbye air strip during the winter season of and history was made. A total of seven planes of which one was illegal maintained the air service in the Park during the season.
An insurmountable problem for the club was the transport of the passengers from the air strip to Satara, and this also led to the service being terminated. After there is no mention of this undertaking. It appears as if it was never a true success and subsequently was ceased.
Two air force planes used the air strip in when the locust officials of the Department of Agriculture were taken on inspection tours during the locust combating campaign. The open plains just north of the Mavumbye windmill, are all that is visible today of the former landing strip. Up until the proclamation of the Park in , the Selati railway line, ox wagons, buggy carts, pack donkeys and horses represented the only forms of transport.
There were no vehicles or roads. The first tourist services introduced since by the SAR, was also exclusively limited to rail transport. As from on, the building — actually de-bushing - of roads was started in all sincerity.
In , construction of the road between Skukuza to Lower Sabie was started, only to be completed in With this rapid road construction programme, a total of miles km of tourist roads was completed by the end of In , a second pontoon was introduced over the Crocodile River, at Malelane.
The road construction programme continued uninterrupted until mid thirties, and by , approximately miles km of roads had been completed. This included important connecting roads, such as the road between Letaba and Shingwedzi and between Malelane and Crocodile Bridge In a new causeway was built over the Sand River to replace the old one and a causeway was also built over the Letaba River.
Although a number of new tourist roads were built between and , the main focus was concentrated around maintenance and improvement of existing road network. This was made possible as a result of acquisition of a large number of road building machinery in , namely two graders, two bulldozers and a tractor with trailer!
Quite a lot of attention was paid to replace the pontoons, which never operated successfully, with causeways. In a causeway was completed over the Sabie River at Skukuza as well as one over the Olifants River at Balule in Construction was nearly completed on the one over the Crocodile River at Malelane. In a causeway was constructed over the Shingwedzi River, and with the completion of the causeway over the Crocodile River at Crocodile Bridge in , this brought about the end of the last pontoon the Park.
The road network as it appeared in , was in itself a extraordinary achievement, if the dire state of the Board finances, the shortage of equipment and manpower and the fact that the Lowveld was relatively inaccessible for vehicle traffic, is taken into account. The thinly spread game rangers were largely responsible for the building or roads as well as rest camps, and the equipment available to them were two Chevrolet trucks, which were purchased in , and a single bulldozer as from !
It is therefore not surprising that Board from the beginning tried all means to acquire assistance. Already in , the SAR and Minister of Land were approached for financial support and the Transvaal Provincial Administration was requested to assist with the road building programme.
In , the Transvaal Publicity Conference lodged a strong plea that the TPA would expedite the works programme for the admission routes and causeways.
It was also requested that it be adopted that the roads to the Park be used as access routes for the development of the rest of the Lowveld. Various attempts were made in the early thirties to convince the SAR to open railway bridges to road transport. The attempts proved to be unsuccessful.
African Culture Southern Africa is a land of old tales and vibrant history. Kruger Park visitors can learn about local people who made their home in South Africa. Find out all you need to know about African Culture.
The First Park Warden. Ancient Kruger Park History. History and Geography. Historical Landmarks.
0コメント