SANParks.org Forums

BB I would like to add a few items...

1st - no radio's or blarring music.
2nd - no loud talking
3rd - if you cant get a spot immediately due to lots of cars, wait your turn...I dont care how long it takes...but wait silently..I had too many disturbing incidents where I waited for half an hour to get a spot..and someone comes from the side and shouted at me to move as they cant see..
4th - Waterholes, if anyone is out of their car, sitting on the roof etc...you have the right to take down their number and report them to the nearest camp...being in a situation many times where, if you do get a spot, ppl sitting on the windows or even the roof spoil your view.
5th - If you see someone with a lens out the window, slow down, you might not be interested, but they wont take a pic if they did not want to...

I can go on and on and on...

The last resort and very drastic....when you make a reservation, ask....why are you going to the Park...if they answer anything else but saying to see the animals..dont give them a reservation...IMO and experience I found a few who were there for the party at night and they should be banned...

Also part of the road etiquette is that a clear path must be left for cars who want to pass.

I also think that if you are at a sighting and see a car coming along, signal to them what's going on.
Indicators to show which of side of the road the sighting is, flash your lights to tell them to approach slowly. I'm sure there is other "car" code we could come up with which would be understood by all if included in the permit, even including hand signals.

Give animals their space unless they come closer to you, otherwise they will be chased away.

Guidance for approaching elephants should also be included, particularly keep the engine running and make sure you have an escape route in front of you.

We had a bit of an embarrassing moment in KNP in May this year.
We had arrived at a lion sighting and there were 2 other cars there (it was in the Orpen area).
We were behind another car and although a bit far back had a clear view.
My 5 year old daughter climbed onto my lap to get a clearer view and accidentally pressed the hooter.
The people in the car in front of us looked around and my wife and I waved apologetically, trying to indicate what had happened.
The driver started his car and moved a bit forward probably thinking that we had hooted to get him to move.
Luckily the l lions were not bothered at all but we were very .
Those people must have thought we were such idiots.

LMHO - who hasn't had this type of situation
Just don't do it when I am looking for a Pel's or narina trogon

Thanks very much for your welcoming.
The other crazy thing about that vehicle was that we rented it in Moçambique. As a surplus Japanese vehicle (all too typical of what one finds in Moçambique), the labels on the fuse box were completely unreadable to any of us ("Hey, can anyone read Japanese?"). We therefore had to use trial and error (and no doubt annoying anyone within hearing distance) to figure out what fuse would stop the backup alarm.

The whole sillyness of the situation also caused some helpless laughter, which probably also upset those around us.

One tip that might be worth including: when approaching a traffic jam, keep a look out for interesting sightings nearby. There was one time we were approaching a traffic jam, and found everyone looking at some lions that were hiding in the bush and very difficult to see. We backed up (with the alarm safely disabled this time) and watched the rest of the pride, which no one had noticed on the other side of the road, about 100 meters back. They weren't hiding at all - just unnoticed.

Hi All,

In July this year we watched 2 lionesses stalking a wildebeest on the Gudzani road (S40?) near Satara. A number of cars were parked - everebody waiting in anticipation to see the outcome.

It was then that my 1 year old daughter discovered our hooter and decided to test it! Luckily the lions were so fixed on their prey that they did not even blink an eye. I have to say that we received quite a few stares - if looks could kill!

I'm a golfer and as such am a huge believer in ettiquete, without it on the golf course you would(and sometimes do) have a much less pleasant experience.

I feel the same goes for Kruger, I believe awareness is the major factor, some people just don't know any better. Even golf ettiquette gets its place in the rule book.

Thanks BB. An interesting and important topic.
IMHO, the 'mites that frequent this forum, have one thing in common.
We are all, I believe without exception, wildlife nuts.
Some 'mites are new and have not experienced the parks yet, so they will learn from the "old hands" and this is good.
Further, I believe that the (let's call them the renegade brigade) are not readers of the forum and in all probability are not enthusiasts.
So largely our "gripes" (if I can call them that) are falling way short of the mark.
Road Etiquette is important for a number of reasons.
It gives everyone an equal opportunity to spot or see the game at a sighting, it makes the passage of traffic easier and reduces road rage and it makes for an all round more pleasant experience.
I too remember the old days when we waved people down to tell them of an interesting sighting or we were waved down and told where to find something interesting.
At our LOG sighting 900m from Olifants turnoff in July, we were, very thankfully the first to see it.
Our approach was very careful as we did not wish to scare the leopard away.
Once I had captured it on video and I had enjoyed the sighting (after telling those who questioned what we are seeing), it was difficult to get out of the traffic snarl-up, but we did and moved away for others to enjoy, admittedly only a short distance and then stopped.
The leopard crossed the road and offered us another fine view before disappearing into the bush.
This was so very different to a similar experience a few days earlier outside Skuks.
We approached a very large gathering of cars (ever noticed how a sighting can be predetermined from a fair distance away, eg, a Kudu 2 cars, ellie 4 cars, lion 8 cars and leopard, every car in the immediate vicinity resulting in gridlock).
Turned out there was a leopard in a tree.
The road was jammed up so badly, that no-one could get anywhere.
The roads in Kruger are designed for two lanes (One in each direction).
In this case the road ended up being like a six lane job.
Loons hanging out of or standing on the window ledges of their cars to see.
Complete road block.
Never even got to see the leopard as we could not get anywhere near and by the time I was frustrated enough to try and get out, we were pinned in from behind as well.
I was actually rather pleased when the LIT decided to move on because it only took 20 seconds for everyone to clear the area afterwards.
May have missed becoming an LIT member, but at least we could move along.
Question is how do we educate those outside the forum about Road Etiquette?

We had an interesting experience in early December regarding road etiquette.
We were driving up the tar road from Malelane towards Afsaal, when we saw a car parked almost sideways across the road..... no problem with that as it was before 5 AM and still very quiet and there was plenty of space to pass if necessary.
Anyway, there was a female leopard lying right next to the road and we had a really good sighting.
The problem came with the arrival of the next vehicle.
This person pushed his way in between our two vehicles and tried to get way too close to the leopard and also left his engine running.
So all he succeeded in doing was to drive the leopard away from the road - about 15 to 20 metres.
He stuck around for about 30 seconds and then drove away.

We had the last laugh though, as he missed the 2 cubs that emerged from the long grass and made their way to Mum a few minutes later.

A week ago I found 2 big Male Lions walking along the Mpunzi Loop Road towards Hapoor...
They arrived and lay down in the open 40 metres away.
I got a few shots in before the first cars started pitching up but they were all so well behaved.
No shouting ...all the cars parked in line, nobody out their car etc.
If a close car to me left their engine running all I had to do was attract their attention and hold my keys up and we all smiled as they frantically switched off.
Then along comes family X and leaves his car running with that dreadful kick in sound of the Fan going off all the time
(Woke the lions up which was nice for a pic or 2 as they sat up to gawk at this Noisy intrusion!!)
We all tried to ask him to turn his engine off but he just stared back at the person pleading.
Eventually after 10 mins I could take it no more and left my Position and drove up to his open Window and asked him to please turn it off...He even asked me why!!!
I explained that it is disturbing the peace and other people's enjoyment of the moment etc etc..
He told me to B Off in front of his wife and pre teen kids.
He left soon afterwards and all was quiet again....it just takes one!! to spoil it for everyone!!

I think half the problem with etiquette is that people have (in general terms) become selfish.
A lot of people will "hog" a sighting and just stay put. This increases the impatience level of others who want to see and then it all goes pear shaped from there.

Let's face facts, we all like to see the big cats and when a rare sighting of a leopard comes along, we all want to enjoy the moment for as long as possible. Problem is we plant ourselves down and stay put. Then someone else arrives, and wants a better view so he / she just barges in and so it goes. Then some loon from several cars back will decide that the road is now full of cars so loon just drives onto the verge and vreates a new "lane of traffic" creating further mayhem and upping the frustration level of everyone.

Then it just becomes a free-for-all and the rules and everything else goes right out the window and pretty soon everyone get more frustrated and irritated. Etiquette, manners and the rules and regs are fogotten.

Perhaps the problem is too many people in the park.

Sad really that we can't all just remember that we are not the only visitor to the park and it's only fair that we shaould all consider our fellow travelers and make way for them too.

I have a growing reputation of beeing disagreeable

I have a suggestion.
One of the problems IMHO of congestion at a sighting and this is a REAL tricky one, is that those nearest to the sighting hog it.
We enjoy a good sighting for a little while, take out photos, and then move on.
I read of some forumites sitting for hours at a sighting.
If it is at a waterhole or similar place, no problem, but just watching lions lie around for hours and blocking others from a sighting is selfish and causes frustration, tension and sometimes irrational or selfish behaviour from others.

I had this at a lion and wild dog sighting recently when a git was hogging the sighting(s) and preventing others from a fair view of it.
How long can a sleeping lion amuse someone with a brain?

Good one BB.

Circumstances will usually dictate how long one can sit a t sighting. As for wathching asleeping lion for hours on end, perhaps someone thinks that the lion will wake up shortly, much in need of a snack and chase off after the buck that happen to be in the area.

I already mentioned that we saw a Zebra kill on S100 and watched for some time, (admittedly, they were not just sleeping) and we watched for a while as the lions eat according to the pecking order. (Status within the pride).

We also wanted to see what other animals would be attracted to the kill but felt it silly to sit there for ages. That was when we decided to go to Sweni Bird hide and come back later.

The lions were still there but sleeping and the vultures and other animals were squabbling over the remains.

Bearing in mind we are now taking some two hours later, one of the cars that was just leaving, was there when we originally arrived, and he was there before we got to the sighting. So he must have been there for about three hours or so. As I said, this was a kill, but even so, it holds only a certain amount of interest.

At other times, the problem can be that the first arrivals get boxed in by later arrivals and so (probably) just think that they will stay at the sighting just to irritate everyone else.

Perhaps they get so bored watching the sleeping lions that they fall asleep themselves.

As to your rep. BB how could any of us find you disagreeable. You're such a sweet personality on the forum.

All the bodies

For all the times we have been to the park, Leopards are the one animal we are always looking for, and never get to see. On our last trip we crossed the path of my first ever spotted Leopard.

We flagged down other parkers to slow them down, as we had this beautiful animal in the sights of our camera another motorist decided she did not want to wait and drove past, between the camera and the Leopard and stopped to see what SHE could see - with effect - the Leopard ran very far away . Therefore no one got to see him, let alone get a photo of him.

As far as I am concered there is a unspoken code of ethic amongst parkers - and that is respect for the animals and other parkers. Just wish more people lived by it.

Warm welcome to the forum Tionet !

Very true
Hope you do see that elusive leopard/s soon !