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But as the water in Kruger is seasonal, in summer, when there is enough water to take boats onto, surely the risk of capsizing would increase as the rivers do get quite volatile when full or in seasonal flood

It would be subject to carefull consideration after assessment of conditions , including water flow and depth .

Why would you want to disturb the animals by making noise?I really don't see any sense of that.It may be difficult to capsize but not if an angry bull hippo is underneath you.

One would only make a noise if they are displaying potentially threatening behaviour .
We allready inconsiderately disturb animals all day in KNP , hundreds of cars and trucks, litter , fences , noise .
Whats the difference if we try to discourage an attack with a short knocking noise of less magnitude than an elephants trumpeting ?

Hi N, I realise that you love the bush, and I understand where you're coming from and what your aim is with this dream of yours...
However, trust me, I don't want to drive along any river in the Park and past goes a dinghy with a couple of humans on them... t
hat will have a huge negative impact on any visitor's scenery, trust me!

Hi guys, this is my first forum post.
A bit of background, I'm just about qualified as a level 1 field guide and as level 1 river guide.
One of the concession operators in the Mozambique side of the park, Trails do Limpopo operate canoe trails on the Rio Elefantes (Olifants River) from Massingir dam to the Limpopo confluence.
Their website is http://www.dolimpopo.com/wilderness_trails.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .
The trail is flat water (i.e. no rapids).

I had the privilege of guiding on one of the first trails in August last year.
In this part of the park, the river forms the park boundary.
There is actually human habitation within the park too, a fair number of large villages.

We didn't see any crocodiles or elephants on the trip, but we did come pretty close to a small pod of hippo which was quite frightening and dangerous.

As someone with a little bit of bush and river experience, I would say that its just too dangerous to offer these types of trips.
I've heard a lot of very experienced guides say the same thing.
One can't see hippos and crocodile under the water, until it may be too late.
I imagine it would also be very difficult to shoot one of these animals under water (the only chance you'd get if they attacked).

However, as has been pointed out, these types of trips take place in the rest of Africa.
I recall doing a canoe trip on the Zambezi above the falls.
There were plenty of hippo and crocs, and I don't think any of the guides were armed.

Hi joshilewis, welcome to the forum & a good start at that.

Yes, not a lot of animals on that side of the border right now, also with Massinger the river pushes back making it a smooth ride. I do concur that it would be too dangerous in Kruger. Not a lot of place to sidestep a hippo pod, herd of ellies there.

I find this discussion interesting.

I've been interested in observing how conservation land use has differed between the American and African parks I've been to.

My initial reaction when I saw the topic of rafting/canoeing in Kruger wasn't positive.
I think this is partially due to the fact that this is not allowed in many of the American parks.
I think this is sometimes due to the hooligan factor that I've seen when I see people rafting in groups.
Lots of yelling, splashing, water gun fights...not a tranquil situation.
But I can see it being totally the opposite if it's administered like the day walks are done.

Personally, I think I'd be too scared to do it.
I think the backpacking trail is the upper limit of risk I'm willing to take.

Incidentally, when I saw the topic about fishing in Kruger, I thought that might be cool.
Fishing is allowed in most of our national parks, including many wilderness areas (defined here as places where motorized transportation is not allowed) and places with dangerous animals.
My personal favorite fishing day actually occurred while fishing in Yellowstone, with a beautiful and intriguing backdrop of geysers and hot springs pouring into the ice-cold river I was fishing in.

Back to my point....fishing is allowed in most American national parks and is strictly managed...usually catch-and-release only or you only get to keep 1 or 2 big ones.
I have no idea if this type of thing would work in Kruger or not.

Once again, ndloti delivers on another thought-provoking topic.

Exactly

Bush Baptist has spurred me on to revive this topic .

Dingy trips are a popular activity in Okavango delta and on the Zambesi river , I still do think it is feasable to consider in Kruger .

I'll get in touch with my contacts in the river industry, see what they think of the idea

Olifants gorge is a bit far from easily accessible drop off points , unfortunately inaccessible and in a wilderness area .
Scipio , rafting on the river , not in the bush
Can be done , starting and ending along existing management roads which are perhaps allready used by Sanparks game viewing vehicles as in night drives , skirting rivers which are invisible to the public , out of pristine wilderness areas .

I'm not too sure what to make of this thread as I see most of the people contributing, and advocating, dinghying down a river, are those wanting to keep Kruger in an unspoilt and natural state.

Yes, there is boating in the Okavango, but there are also numerous reports on the damage it is doing to the habitat of birds that nest alongside the banks of the river e.g. the carmine bee-eater. The wash from the boat causes erosion etc. of the banks, where they nest.

Are we suggesting a motorized dinghy? If motorized, then I'm afraid this flies in complete contradiction to the other arguments posted on the forum about how Kruger is being exploited, the wilderness areas being spoilt etc etc.

Or are you suggesting kayaking/canoeing? I'm hoping it's a misspelled heading.

Preferrably non motorised , though perhaps with a motor as a back up .

I can understand that motorisation is undesireble due to the speeds and wakes caused .
As far as degradation of wilderness areas is concerned , I doubt whether we have seen the end of plans for peripheral tourist infrastructure outside the KNP which pour hundreds of tourists into the KNP , so whats wrong with the odd relatively low impact non motorised (dingy with motor for emergencies ?) boat trip along a river serviced by allready existing tourist management roads for those wanting to avoid these literally hundreds of day visitor cars and game viewing vehicles ? ...
In retrospect the marketing of this may be difficult due to the sporadic nature of rainfall and river levels .

Was just an idea to deviate my attention from the bickering on other threads and to see if anyone can logically debate after carefully reading the whole threads contents and seeing that the objections have been addressed instead of blindly nitpicking at my suggestion .

How did we do so far ndloti?

If it came about, the way I would implement it would be as a canoe trip. I don't anything larger than a 2-man canoe would be maneuverable enough. I don't think there would be any need or point in having a motor on board.

I have paddled on the Zambezi and on the Rio dos Elephants (Olifants) in Mozambique, both with hippo and cros, both in canoes. These trips are run regularly, and clearly there aren't enough issues with the hippo and crocs to stop it.

Speaking of rain, I imagine the next two weeks would probably be quite good for this.