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I think the saddest thing which is happening is allowing private camps to open within the Park - and to be allowed to develop areas / new roads which the ordinary Park visitors will not be allowed into.
This has already put some of the most stunning scenery in the far north 'off limits' unless you are very wealthy.

I also don't understand why the shops and restaurants were privatized; this may work out over the next few years but I have serious reservations.
Neither are as good as they were 10+ years ago.
OK, they may have more 'tourist tat' for sale - but seem to run out of essentials!
I loved the 5 course menus - plenty of variety as they were different every night.
20 years ago there were problems to of course; if you ordered a bottle of wine you never knew which one you would be given - it was rarely the one ordered!
But it was done with such charm you really didn't mind.

I think it is a shame that the Park staff no longer appear in the restaurants - in the old days they seemed to enjoy talking to the visitors, answering questions etc.
They still will today, but you have to work hard to find them sometimes.

1 happy point; I was seriously concerned that the whole of the Park was about to collapse due to attitude problems, ignorance, unhelpfulness amongst many of the staff - particularly at the end of the phone when trying to book a trip and in camp receptions.
This was at its worst 4 -5 years ago.
BUT the whole place has pulled itself together and I have been really impressed over the last few trips.
Long may things continue to improve.


Richard

in terms of communication, ...
10 years ago a tourist was a strange species

I love to hear excitement, foreign sounds and the appreciation of the wild.
That was not here a while ago.

I think we all forget the most important change....THIS FORUM!! Its wonderfull to be able to interact with ppl from all over the world, talking about something we all love

I have mentioned it before but 3 times even had jeep jockeys flag me down to tell of sightings and countless people doing the same especially if they have seen lion
Have had good chats with people at picnic spots, oh ja also had a jeep jockey at Mopani come over to our table to tell us where a leopard was.
The staff have always been really helpful, even stood up for me when someone pushed in front of me at the check in counter.

Now a little story from 28 years ago; staying at my grandparents house next to Kruger and I get very ill one night, so parents rush me off to Kruger Gate very early in the morning 'cos grandparents' family doctor is the Skukuza doctor.
My parents had a major battle to get us in the gate.
Eventually after a huge argument they allow us in and we rush off to the doctor.
Anyway after seeing the doctor I start feeling a little better and my parents go to Skukuza for some food, but they go to the office and pay first for being in the park.
They get back to the gate show the receipt to say they have paid and the same man lays verbally into my dad something awful. My dad's very words were "he was disgustingly rude"
In the "modern" Kruger we have NEVER experienced anything like that!

Things have changed in the park.
Gone are the days when one didn't lock a door, in fact in a lot of the camps I don't think doors had locks! When breakfast was made an extra plate was always set aside for the cleaning staff who, in return, left your bungalow immaculate.
Everyone waved at each other, flagged you down re sightings, chatted at lookout points, left belongings sitting in restaurants or picnic spots without fear of anything being stolen.
And no, I'm not talking about fifty years ago (although SO has been going that long) but only ten years ago.

Then, in 2003 SO and I made the decision not to return to Kruger.
This was after experiencing our worst trip ever.
After having visited every year we were so disappointed at what appeared to be such a decline.
May I also say we met many staff who still retained the old values but it was obvious moral was very low.(I must emphasise all these incidents took place in camps in the southern part of the park and I purposely do not mention specifics)

However, once back in Britain common sense and a love of the park prevailed so we decided it deserved one more chance.

To our amazement the following year things appeared to have turned around, it was so different, the staff at the same reception where we had seen such abuse the previous year were pleasant and friendly and, although there were still issues at takeaways the atmosphere was more like the 'old' park.
The quiet well oiled efficiency appeared to be back.

I don't think we just hit Kruger in a bad few weeks, many other family and friends visiting over the same period had similar experiences. I think Kruger went through a very bad patch but I do believe things have improved immensely over the past three years and continue to do so.
Long may this continue!

Animals never let you down, only homo sapiens.

As late as 1997, the personnel in the park still had this quaint and charming innocence.
Most spent the bulk of their lives in the park, seldom venturing into civilisation as we know it.
Like teachers, they did it far more for the love of it, than any financial reward.

But soon after this, the whole ethos of The Parks Board changed, from being a national treasure and a certain sink of government funds, it was called on to operate as a business, paying its way.
And rightfully so, given the increased exposure to foreign tourists, many of whom are particularly fussy, and where only a business-centric operating model could live up to those expectations.

But as the business side got leaner, the employees got meaner.
In 2002, on a five night stay, some of the staff were downright surly. About the only member of staff with a reasonable attitude, doing a good job, was the makulu chap cleaning the ablutions at Lower Sabie.

Similar the following year, but that was only a day-trip, and we only had exposure to staff at shops and the LS restaurant.

But my folks who've been going several times a year for the last ten years, detected a diametrical shift in attitude soon thereafter.
It seems someone decided that becoming a business, didn't necessarily involve turning the staff into morose monsters, and things improved.

This year, with the exception of the shop staff in Skuk, who seemed distracted (rather than downright rude), everyone was pretty pleasant.
In particular, the management staff at Pretoriuskop bent over backwards to see to our unusual needs, being a large party.
Sure, a lot of it was pre-planned, but things like an extra braai... 'the public' have been fleecing the camp of their three-legged braais, and they are now embedded in terra firma.

Regards visitors, sure, we've all become insular, self-absorbed.
But that is the nature of the beast.
I mean, how many of us in Gauteng know our neighbours? As the walls and electric fences have gone up, so has our collective guard.

But as several have mentioned, break the ice, and the old spirit returns... people with a common love of the bush still know how to get along, despite their differing 'everyday' backgrounds.

At the end of the day, don't expect a return to the park of the fifties or sixties, it's not going to happen. The business itself, visitors and staff have become more sophisticated, and that will all manifest in the interactions we experience.

I cant agree more!!!! We obviously all had some experiences that stick in our minds, but there's only one Kruger and we all love to be there and experience it....no matter what...this may seem like the obvious...but ppl still want to go there and expierience the old and the safety.....

And a good reminder of how life isn't so black & white - there have been many great improvements as well. Unless I'm mistaken the local communities living around KNP (and who surely have a claim to the heritage of the area) now get to benefit more from job opportunities than they did in the past?
Also, and on a completely different note, who could argue on the beauty of sitting on the new Lower Sabie deck listening to the hippo's laughing at themselves?

After many years of not visiting the park I could not believe my eyes - last year - when in Olifants I found the same photo of the elephants - in the same spot - in the restaurant
A tear was quietly blinked away.
It felt like seeing a long lost old friend!
Even the shop was still the same!

Of all camps excluding Punda and Shingwedzi ) Olifants was exactly as I remembered.

I believe everything has been said!
The biggest change over the years for me is that KNP has become so commercialism - and the reason is understandable.
If KNP does not make the money, none of our other National Parks will survive as KNP is the big daddy, subsidizing all other Parks.
The hundreds of private tour operators with many tourists were never seen 10 years ago...

This is the reason why we always escape to the northern parts of the park.
I agree that facilities have improved, but disregard for the rules on the road has really deteriorated.
This may count for the whole country really - looking at how people disobey basic traffic rules, why will they bother to stay in their vehicles and stick to speed limits in KNP?

The biggest change for me in the last 15 years, i.e. since 1992, is the amount of pre gate opening time traffic. It is now impossible to see anything that slept on a tar road anymore, and we often were the first car down a road and had mega sightings, but that now is sadly gone.

Have visited KNP at least 5 times per year on average for last 24 years , I am disillusioned about :

1) Concession areas with their network of private roads and the impact on the KNP
2 ) Excessive amount of open game viewing vehicles and their impact on private tourists enjoyment
3) Over commercialisation of KNP , beer banners and litter at picnic places , shops , ....
4 ) Diminished " sense of place "
5 ) Tarriffs have increased disproportionately
6 ) Increased disregard of the basic rules

Unfortunately I am forced to pay R 750 per night to escape on wilderness trails

I agree with all except number 5 ndloti, the prices of accomodation without own ablutions have stayed very reasonable and within the means of the budget minded nature lover.

The last time I went up to Pafuri was in 1991.
Back then the roads were more often than not covered with millions of those gray armoured Ground Crickets [the cannibalistic ones] and there were always a couple of columns of army ants [you waited for them to cross the road].
This year we saw none of that.
Not even one.
Maybe they were late due to the terrible dryness, I hope this is the case.
But speaking to people who have watched the area closely say that every year the insects that gathered around lights at night are diminishing year by year.

As for the Fever Tree Forest, it is non-existent, oh there are lots of fever trees at Pafuri but the ancient ones are gone [these were those which had crowned, indicative of their age].
The flood plain dynamics have changed bringing permanent dryness [at least to the koosboom vlei and hence the forest] and together with fire have destroyed the trees.
In mid-2006 three fires raged through from the Mozambican side.

A similar situation exists on the Mahonie loop where there were strands of Ironwood along the hilltops, which have over the past decade also been ravished by fire.

As far as the big picture is concerned, I don't think the Park has changed much at all!

It remains a "must see" for local and foreign visitors, and provides acres of space for them to each get their own chance to get that "special feeling"!

I also think that the spirit amongst visitors regarding sharing stories and stopping cars to report is alive and well!

Smaller changes, for me:

A drastic reduction in rare antelope sightings, but a boom in predator sghtings, especially leopard!

Increased rainfall, and a consequent lessening of rewarding waterhole experiences.

Ghastly elephant overpopulation!

Lovely new hides and camps.

Less poaching.

The loss of many experienced staff.