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From where to where does this gorge stretch? It looks awesome!! I heard that it is home to about a 1000 croc's. Biggest concentration in Africa. Footage I have seen of it showed crocs swarming all over the place. Is it possible to visit the gorge on a hike, mountain bike drive etc?

It is a magnificent area of the Park.

Is the gorge's future still in trouble with planned dam building outside the Park?

Kind regards
WTM.

I don't know this place. Where is it?

Lindo is quite right francoisd, we normal people can't see the place.

It does seem that a mountain bike trail there allows you to visit the gorge. I better get some dubbon on my butt then.

Since when are you and Francois normal people? Did I miss a memo?

You must have missed it. Was sirculated 2 months ago.

I notice that the Olifants trail is in that area. Can people doing the trail get to the gorge? Maybe that's your way out WTM

That is the best chance francoisd, but the Olifants hike is a very popular one. It takes forever to get a opportunity to go on it.

Hi Everyone

As you drive out of Olifants Camp, turn right and drive to an outlook post on top of a hill. That will give you a fairly good idea on what the gorge looks like.
If that only makes you hungry, book yourself on the Olifants Wilderness Trail. The trails hut itself is built very close to the river and, I am sure, the trails rangers will take you closer to it ...
Alternatively, you can go on one of the MBT. I stand to be corrected but I think at least one of them goes pretty close!

Yes, yes and yes. There are indeed an estimated 1 000 crocs in the gorge (probably the biggest in the world too and certainly the densest population), the raising of the dam wall will impact negatively on the gorge itself and it is one of the most beautiful areas in the KNP!



Kind regards
KNP Spokesman

I have the luck to see on german tv Terranova the last days reports from KNP called Parklife. I think the reports are from 2000. There was a report from the big flood and the damage in Skukuza, some reports of capture of game, about using the GPS-trackers from the fieldrangers and so on. Very lovely reports.
And there was a report about a Section-Ranger named "Swanee" He must capture a croc from a waste water dam and then they followed him to the Olifants Gorge. So much crocs! One lying near by an other. Great! Amazing! And he loves them all. He seems to be a very nice person who really loves his job.

Swanie apparently does not work in the KNP anymore. He now runs a company called Dynamic Pocket Solutions in Phalaborwa (http://www.pocketsolutions.co.za, which produce wildlife-orientated software for PDA's. I've not met him, but have visited his office and seen a small selection of his library, which as you might imagine features quite a lot of literature on crocodiles! See the Recommended Reading section for reviews of some of the software they produce.

The Parklife series is great! It was shown on UK tv a while ago and I'm still kicking myself for not taping it. Anyone know if it is available on Video or DVD?

I had read somewhere that a there are plans to build a big holiday resort on the banks of the Massinger Dam., Ideal for water sport etc.

"GORGE" was a picnic spot in the 60's and 70's .
It was also a camp in very early years, and it was even more primitive than Balule.
Count yourself priviledged to have visited it as a child because it was an impressive view and had a rich early history. I heard it was closed to general public when the first "wilderness areas" were set aside rather than "Rooi Gevaar".
Aparently the Olifants river below has an unbelievable density of Crocodiles especially large ones. The raising of Masingire dam wall in Mozambique could push water level up in the gorge
altering the ecosystem forever.

Really a scary thought... also watched this interesting insert about Swannie and his project on 50/50 Sunday! Wish they could get the funds for him to follow through on his project!

Thanks Mikev.

Apparently the picnic spot attendant used to take visitors on walks down to the river. No gun or anything for protection! This also used to happen at Balule, and I guess still happens at Massorrini with the guide taking you up the mountain.

So it's name was actualy Gorge. My mother thought it was just our familie's name for it.

BG

What say, if any at all does SANP have in this project?
How can we help to put a stick in the spokes of this project?
Surely this project will mean the end of one of Africa's last unique eco-systems.

I am not at all happy with this.