SANParks.org Forums

Hi there all! I will be visiting Kruger for the first week July. staying at protea Kruger Gate.I would like to hear from others who have done the same with any tips or suggestions. This will be my first time on that side of the park, stayed at malelane & crocodile area previous trips.
I would like to know about aerial trips over the park : firstly whether these are encouraged, then who when and where?

cant wait to kruger.

Easy answer, they are not allowed. KNP Spokesman told us somewhere long ago that even SANParks flights are tightly controlled, and only the ones really needed are going through.
So overflights will have to be done with Google Earth....

Hi abayat,

If memory servers me correctly, flying over the KNP as an activitity is not allowed. As Duco correctly stated, flying in the park is tightly controlled.

The landing strip near Skuz was used for commercial flights at one stage. Think they only used it for vet services now. Anyhoo.


Your a funny man, abayat.
I will helium balloon your bunny chow and all one time when you pluck on the kite string twice. The beers you will have to leave with me thou.

abayat
There are however microlights and balloon flights in areas close to Kruger. If you wish i can PM a adres

Just out of interest and without trying to start a heated debate, but wouldn't balloon safari's over Kruger be an option. They make almost zero noise and are not really an eyesore if it was controlled to one operator per area. There are large area's of Kruger with no road network and maybe these type of safari's could operate over these spots without even being seen by the everyday tourist. I for one would love to do a balloon safaris over Kruger.

Nice idea, but I don't think it would work in Kruger.

The big problem with hot-air balloons is that you can't steer them - your only options are up and down.

A balloon is normally followed by a retrieval vehicle which shadows it to its final landing point so that the envelope and basket can be loaded up and returned to the departure point. The pilot and passengers also have to be "retrieved" of course.

Obviously, if the balloon finally lands in open bush some distance from a road the retrieval vehicle(s) then have to drive off-road to the landing site and the ground crew have to tramp around deflating and folding up the envelope and loading the whole shooting match onto the retrieval vehicle.

Given the SANParks policy of minimising damage to the ecostructure in the parks, I think it unlikely that they would look favourably on this activity.

You have a point there simonb6 but although you can't steer them the pilots are very good at landing them at pre designated spots. They don't simply go where the wind takes them and land wherever. Trips are very well planned out according to wind direction. The take-off spot are carefully selected according to the wind direction in order to get the balloon back to it's planned landing spot where the recovery vehicle is waiting.
I don't see there being any problem with them in Kruger. There are a few other game reserves in SA that have them flying over and have had no problems there (the one is very large - think 3rd biggest in SA ?)

Hi all!

I think we should start with some clarity on the specific reasons for restricting flights over/within the park.

Flights dont need to originate or terminate within the boundaries of the park.

I dont think air pollution could be an issue, else motor vehicles, especially diesel 4x4's wouldn't have been allowed.

Maybe noise pollution. In this case, hot air balloons would be ideal. interesting if anyone with such experience could enlighten us regarding the pilots ability to or restrictions with steering the balloon.

If planes make too much noise, and balloons cant be steered and may thus need to land in the park, how about a microlight aircraft.?

Whatever is allowed should be restricted to a licensed operator, like we find with those who offer boat based whale watching.

I don't know about anyone else, but I personally would very much object to ANY sort of aircraft apart from official SANParks aircraft flying over any part of KNP. If you want this sort of experience, go to those places that offer it. IMO such activities would be totally out of place (and out of keeping) in Kruger.

Hi "Winged" Forum Folks

I have read this thread with interest ... thank you for everyone's input.

I don't know whether any Forum members have been to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe lately? My SO and I went there last year for a bit of R&R and LUCKILY the lodge that we chose to stay at was relatively far from the actual Falls. That said however, you could still see the helicopters and microlights flying up and down the river (just visible to the left of the deck) and it looked a bit like Heathrow Airport (ie much busier than OR Tambo International!). My thoughts went to the people booked into hotels and lodges closer to the Falls themselves, the noise must have been horrible ...

Now that illustration is one of the main reasons why we restrict flights over the Park. I would definitely agree with Arks, imagine the situation where you are quietly enjoying a moment with a herd of Kudu on the S-"something" and a group of microlights roar over you!

The same can be said for balloons. When they open the taps, it is a roar as the gas burns into the canopy. Imagine the same setting as above?

There is also the safety issue. If the microlight declares an emergency, where does it land? If the balloon's flight plan doesn't go ... well ... according to plan (this happens often Snoobab! - I have been up twice in a balloon and only once did they land where they said they were going to land!!)? And how are the passengers and crew evacuated from the area?

And the simple fact that it is against the law and the Protected Areas Act. So you would need to change the law before allowing this sort of thing.

To wrap up, at this stage we will not allow this activity to take place in the Kruger National Park.

Kind regards
KNP Spokesman

Do the field rangers report incidents of flying over the Park. Earlier this year I travelled from Malelane Gate to Lower Sabie following the river route. There were Micro lights flying overhead and I can only assume they came from one of the Luxury Lodges across the River.

Hi BigBob

Our field rangers certainly do try and get the registration number of the aircraft. Our feeling on this is if the aircraft is low enough to read the registration, it must be illegal. These aircraft are reported to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

By the way, this is where we and some of the lodges outside the park disagree. The river is still in KNP as the boundary is on the southern bank so therefore they might be "only" overflying the river, but we still regard this as illegal.

So I hope this is a warning to those unscrupulous microlight operaters out there. We know who you are, your aircrafts' registration numbers and where you are based ...

Hi Simonb6

You must have gone to the Salon then? Aviation photography is where I learnt many of my tricks too. I have unfortunately never been to Paris (for the air show) but I have been to a number of shows in the UK. My favourite - to this day - was a "flying day" at the Shuttleworth Collection. Saw and took ground-to-air photographs of the DH88 flypast - FANTASTIC! (I have a military aviation background ...).

Kind regards
KNP Spokesman

Yes they do, and they should be 'visible' from the ground.

Hi cptphotographer

The Singita Lebombo Concession had a definite need for an airstrip and submitted this need with its original proposal. The original idea was to build a new landing strip in the concession area but this was refused by our Conservationists as the environmental impact was too high. The alternative was to let them use the airstrip near Satara which was built for SANParks and military operations and this was approved, with conditionally approved.

One of the major conditions was that aircraft had to maintain a certain altitude before landing and the other condition was that they weren't allowed to overfly the camp. It sounds to me that they are doing this so thank you for reporting it. I will pass the message onto the officials concerned.

Kind regards
KNP Spokesman