SANParks.org Forums

After just having spent 10 days in the KNP I saw many stupid actions from people but this one has to take the cake. On the main road up north close to the Punda Maria turn off, this female elephant was blocking the road and stood there grazing for about 20 minutes. The people had left their vehicles, were walking around and chatting, taking photos etc etc. All of this within 50m of the elephant and the rest of the herd with quite a few babies.



What was even worse than this was when a parks official in a bakkie arrived, he merely revved his engine until the elephant moved away. The official then weaved through the vehicles and carried on his way without any discussion to these idiots.

In response to Sandy, but meant for all:

Guys, we have just spent almost 3 weeks in the parks.
Quite contrary to most reports here we did not see tons of traffic, sightings hogging (quite the opposite actually), speeding and such, but we did see people breaking the rules.

And it is very, very easy to solve! Two simple things:
1. Drive around with a Yellow ribbon.
Not only will you be recognised and may meet fellow forumites, many other drivers recognise it, and stay within the rules with you around. Believe me, I have seen it happening.

2. If that didn't help, smile at them, and make photos of the transgression(s).
Now when you enter a camp just pop off to reception, show the photos (with clear license plates!) and know that you have just caused the transgressors one or more of the R1500 fines.
You may need to send in the photos, so don't wipe them!

We are sure we filled the coffers with quite a few Rands this way, as we reported 3 incidents.
The staff at reception were friendly, got into action instantly and on one occasion actually said there should be more tourists like me. Which makes me think that many people complain, but that few actually report to reception as soon as they can.

As all incidents have been taken care off I won't be posting the photos of the incidents.

I hope I am placing this report on the right sight . We were staying at Pretoriouskop and on our way down to the T junction there in front of us was an accident. There was a woman lying on the road she did not look so good, the parks people were helping her and the others. They had a drinking party at Prekop and went for a drive. They then sped back to Prekop they must have been going at about 100 to 120km they slammed on brakes, missed the cement block(Lucky) and were stopped by a tree. The skid marks were about 30 metres long. What on earth if there had been another car at that T junction I shudder to think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I do have video footage of it if anyone is interested.Regards Mama Faru

Lets face it guys, there aren't that many rules for our parks, the majority are very simple to understand and just plain common sense.

No speeding
Stay in your car (includes hanging out of windows/sunroofs etc)
Don't litter
Don't feed/interfere with animals/pick plants etc
Stay on the roads
Park on the same side as the sighting, leave the other lane open

The other stuff like:
Making a noise in camps
Unruly beaviour
Loud radios
Bad mannered behaviour at sightings
are all just about consideration for other people and are all consistent with good manners and being responsible individuals, something which is non-existant in our society ( except for a minority).

My point is that most people get to a gate, rush in, get their entry permit, get back to their car, chuck the permit in the cubby hole/glove compartment in case they need it if an official asks for it and never read the rules. How about a simple 1 pager with pictures instead of words (there are enough pictures on this forum of people breaking the rules) with a big red circle and an "X" through it, someting like the normal no smoking signs, which gets handed to the driver by the guy that operates the boom, not by the reception person or it will just end up in the cubby hole with the permit. We are still going to get those that don't give a rats a@3& about the law and they have to be dealt with, but I'm sure we will reach a larger number of people who are genuinly ignorant of the rules in this way.
It's a mental thing and about anticipation. Everyone gets excited just before arriving at an entry gate, the anticipation builds and we want to get the registration thing done asap so that we can get back to our cars and start animal/bird spotting. Once we're back in our car and moving we start to relax and most people will take a look at a 1 pager with pictures at this time. The gate guy can even say to people as he hands it out "please read this, enjoy your day/stay and please allow other people to enjoy theirs as well".
JMHO the costs are next to nothing compared with the costs of the chaos we have now.

Check this pdf, page 2 (or in other words, the backside of the brochure.
Looks rather simple and understandable to me...

RobertT and Tree Queen, you both have very valid points however I have read often on this forum that mites have confronted people who have got out of their cars to take photos and these people often seem to be guests from overseas who seemed genuinly surprised that they weren't allowed to do so
As for the people who have been there before and choose to ignore the rules, I say kick them out immediately and place a ban on re-entry for them and the vehicle for a stipulated period.

DuQues, the pamhlet is self explanitory, you are right, but don't you think it's a bit busy and time consuming to read. Maybe, and it's only a thought because this one doesn't seem to be working, a simplified seperate 1 pager with actual photographs, handed out once the visitor is already back in the car might be more effective. You see, the guy is driving so it's a bit difficult to stuff it in the cubbyhole so he hands it to his partner, who on seeing photographs with a red circle and line through them would be more inclined to take note.

This video should be shown to all the rule breakers that get out of their car - even in the open vehicle you are not safe and should always be careful!!!!

That's how I see it Elsa.
A hissing moggie is not a happy moggie.

No, it was a guide of a privatre reserve - i definately could not sit in that front seat to track the animals - would be toooo nervous

Unmistakable warnings galore indeed.... I would have backed off after the first angry look. Well, I would not have come as close to a feeding animal to start with. That is what you have longer lenses for.