SANParks.org Forums

Yes, I have cjecked out that site before, but you will notice that the Authours have listed the falls according t thir methods, not the standard. You will notice that Victoria Falls is placed 13! When it is in fact the lagest waterfall in the world (otherwsie it wouldnt be a wonder of the world). A waterfalls size is not determined by volume either.

Google 'Augrabies, sixth largest...' and you'll find countless other sites proving it

(Look in the book "the national parks of south africa" and you'll fnd it there too...)

I have a vague recollection from info that was posted on the notice board at Augrabies, that when in full flood the amount of water going over the falls is more than Niagara, which come in 6th, I think, for volume.

@ DB & LL, it was very loud & wet, due to the spray made be the vast quantity of water cascading over the falls.
We where also unable to cross the river to "do" the Black Rhino adventure, as it was unsafe for the boat, the river was flowing too fast, so instead of a quick trip in a boat, we when by road to the other side of the park. Does anyone know if this activity still happens, it's not listed amongst the activities for the park and I think it was the only way you could visit the area on the opposite side of the river. I'm sure
last time we went to the park it was still on their activities board but that was a few years ago.

Also what is the size of the park since its last expansion?

In october it was announced that it would be expanded by 32 000 ha, which would bring the total to 78 000 ha. Or was the 46 000 ha the amount it came to after the expansion?

Our trip report over here
It goes over to Rivhterveld NP if you continue with the pages...

Just look how they improved the walk way from '96 to '06



If I think how the pictures looks at reception, it seems as if '96 flood was even bigger than '06.
Sandy, do you have any info regading this?

The gentleman who provides the water level readings was not in the office when I called about this, so I visited the DWAF website myself to see what I could find out. The figures I'm going to discuss do not directly correlate to the actual water level readings, but they do indicate general levels.\

On March 8th of this year, we hit 1,691 cumecs - the highest level in four years. And then, on April 5th, we hit 1,983 cumecs! Talk about spectacular! But after looking up the other years, that was nothing...

For the two readings from this year, the data I got from the website showed slightly lower levels than DWAF actually gave me: March - 1,430 cumecs and April - 1,851 cumecs. Four years before that, the websited listed the following levels (I take it to mean that the actual readings were higher than these numbers) for the last several years that had high water levels: 9Feb2002 - 1,716; 8Dec2001 - 1,743; 24Feb2000 - 1,788. And now compare those to the following readings: 7Jun1997 - 2,427 and 1Mar1996 - 2,339!

Reinette, it definitely looks like the water levels in 1996 AND 1997 got much higher than what we've had so far this year. I'll call DWAF on Monday to confirm that and see if I can get the actual readings for those years. Plus, I'm going to start a new topic to discuss the new walkway system at the park.

Sandy, what is the name of those beautiful colorful lizards you have in the park?

Report of our second stay at Augrabies, August 2006, here.

Those are the Augrabies flat lizards (Platysaurus broadleyi) or Augrabies plat akedis (in Afrikaans, but my spelling is horrible - at least that's what it sounds like to me!). The males are brightly colored with greenish-blue heads on top, dark blue throats, either bright yellow or orange shoulders, and either bright orange or red hips. On the other hand, the females are brown.

Thank you very much Sandy. Don't worry about the spelling, there are a lot of forumites who won't even know By the way, you only missed one 'k'.
We saw the little brown ones as well, but couldn't manage to capture them.
Here is a pic of one, they are really amazing to see:

Hi Sandy,
during our visit in August last year there was as few water at the falls as you can see on these nice pictures from Justin.
Is there usually more water in November?
Additional pics from our last visit...


and this one was waving us "Good bye" on our departure



You see, I didn't have a zoom cam for my last visit. But this year I will be well prepared to get the picture with the smile on the Klipspringer's face.

Hi Sable,

The future water level is always difficult to guess, but unless we have a lot of rain in early spring, I would expect the water level to be at the lower end of normal in November (50 cumecs or so). But though I'm saying that, we're running over 7 times the normal amount of water right now so one never knows. This year was a very rainy year with some floods in different parts of the country so who knows what this spring will bring! Since I've been here, I've seen the river go from about 400 cumecs up to 1,983 cumecs, down to 30 cumecs, and back up to 391 cumecs! And I find that each level has its own beauty - I had no idea how rugged and beautiful the gorge is just above the Main Falls until the level went down to 30 cumecs!

Congrats on the zoom lens! You'll definitely love having it here.

We train the klipspringer to greet and farewell our guests here at the park. OK, I'm just kidding but it does almost seem that way sometimes! I had one visitor tell me that she thought the park had put up klipspringer statues to please visitors until she saw one move its head! I laughed so hard when she told me that and even used it in my presentations the rest of the week.

Hope you have a wonderful visit in November!

On a post in another thread I read about a succesful land claim took place in the park - how much was taken and when did it happen?

You are correct that we had a land claim which has changed the layout of the park. I'll have to double check the dates and get back with you, but I have read that we had the first land claim that went in after 1994 for the Riemvasmaak community! We gave back a large portion to the Riemvasmaak community on the northern bank of the river, and ended up extending west along the southern bank. When I get back to you with the dates, I should also have the size changes.