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Thanx for the advice

We have a Jurgens Slipstream ( Solid body halfway down and tent halfway up ) without solid door or windows. ( Tent on Wheels )
The windows have mozzie netting on the outside and canvass on the inside and my concern is that they will tear the mozzie sheet to try to get inside.The upper half of the door is also canvass closing only with a zip.
Maybe a few strategic rubber snakes as suggested, but do they not get used to the "dead" snakes?
I don't want to use a portable caravan alarm for fear of disturbing fellow campers.

Zip up completely when you leave camp, or even if walking around and leaving it unattended.

Make sure all food is in ammo-type boxes which are securely fastened/tied up and you should be OK.

If they can smell or see food they may try to break in, but if all is secure and covered over they are more likely to go for easier pickings.

In 2 years of caravan-living in Kruger the only time I had a problem was when I forgot and left an ammo-type box of food in the outside tent when I went out for a short while.

This reminds me of an incident about a year ago.
We were photographing a monkey with her baby on the left side of the car.
My friend had her back towards her open window.
I saw my husband had wide open eyes - a monkey had come thro the window and was resting on her back....
I grabbed an empty plastic container and struck him on the head with it.
Monkey gone, friend suffering a panic attack!
Monkey was fine..

It looks like he's having a dop , or chewing on a tow hitch cover

They are still doing it, this was July 2010 on Eloff street...cute!!

I know that I'm a scaredy cat, but ever since my first visit in 1976, when a huge baboon sat on the bonnet of our car, bared his huge teeth and pulled off our windscreen wipers, we always drive past any baboons in the road (without running them over!!)
They are great to observe from a distance with their antics and family interaction, but don't ask me to go up close and personal!! (Same with Nellies!)

We were at Lower Sabie in August and on our first morning baboons decided our car looked like a fun toy!
We couldn't go anywhere as the 2 cars in front had decided to stop at let the baboons trash their cars, however ours was a hire car so this was not good!
In the end we ended up with two of them fighting on the roof leaving dents and scratches and no back window wiper...car hire company was not happy, and neither was our credit card bill!

This is the reason they sell rubber snakes in the park shops

We arrived at Tsokwane at about 10am the morning for breakfast.
We decided on a spot next to the picket fence on the newer southern side.
I use a skottel as well as a hot wheel (for toast) and 2 number 3 gas bottles so it is an excursion to unload the lot plus a cooler box with bacon, sausages and eggs as well as orange juice.
We decided on a spot in the shade next to a tree where a cleaner has left an old dilapidated broom.
While I was setting up the cookware, my wife sets the table and unpacked the goods.
It was quiet on this side of the picnic spot with only a small group of Japanese tourists having breakfast at a double table.

A movement caught my eye and the next moment a baboon annexed the low GI bread that my wife unpacked on the table grinning at her with big ugly teeth.
I grabbed the old broom and took a swipe at the baboon.
The broom and handle promptly parted and the broom flew for about 30 meters and skidded across the table of the Japanese tourists and fell in the dirt.
Cameras appeared and the tourists clicked away at the strange object that cleared there table and landed in the dirt.

This make me think about feeding the animals.
Am I now technical in trouble for feeding the animals?
When is it feeding the animals?
If you give it to the animal or what?
Is it considered as feeding the animals if the birds sit on your skottel and eating the left over’s?
If you clean the skottel and you scrape the leftovers on to the dirt and the birds eats it, is this feeding the animals?
If the cleaners wipe the tables and the birds eat the crumbs in the dirt, did they feed the animals?
Just to the north of Skukuza is a huge rubbish dump where all Skuks rubbish is dumped on a daily basis. When the tractor and trailer turns of the main road, Baboons hitch a ride on it and start sifting through the stuff.
Hundreds of animals and birds congregate at the dump to feed.
Are the staff feeding the animals?
Please help

Good question livingstone.
I would say feeding the animals is giving it to them.
Although when the plates sit there and people leave to drive again the birds peck the crumbs.
this is unacceptable.
I end up walking over to other people's tables where they have eaten and take their plates to that spot where they cook.
We simply can't wait five minutes for the waitress to take it away.
We need to take every measure to preserve WILDlife.

Personally I feel a positive rule would be: Take your own plates away after your meal.

At Tsokwane I spoke to the manager about various topics.
I asked him where the "do not feed the animal"signs were. he said he had requested them.
are the signs back?

ROFL!

Sorry, I know this is not a joking matter, "but the mindpic" of the baboons using "public transport" to get to "work" is just so funny!

Back to the topic at hand:

I think leaving food accesible to animals = feeding the animals.
In other words, leaving dirty plates on the table;
Scraping leftovers onto the ground or into open rubbish bins;
Forgetting to turn the fridge around (I did this once, and only once, in Satara );
all = feeding the animals.

However, if if a rogue baboon steals your food from your picnic table while you are still unpacking - that's more difficult to judge. It isn't as if you've invited the guy to come share your meal at your table...

How COULD you Livingstone.......

Feeding the baboon, really

Just kidding, you are the victim of somebody else, and others doing it.

The baboon is going to have to be shot eventually thanks to them.

Would have loved to see your broom athletics, LMHO.

Livingston

I think what everyone else is saying is true, people just need to remember that they are visiting the animal's territory and we need to be responsible when dealing with food (like not leaving it lying around etc).

I once saw a family at Olifants who were sitting around the braai. It was all very sweet until the little boy yelled to his mom in the kitchen, "Is this the meat for the hyaena?"
They promptly threw a steak over the fence into the waiting jaws of the animals.
And I had quite a word with them afterwards

It's because of things like this that the baboon took a chance and stole your bread. It all seems harmless but to the animals it becomes a method of survival I suppose. People just need to remember that we're not the bigshots when we're in the wild.

On our last visit to Tshokwane while we were having lunch there were several monkeys hanging around all eyeing out all the various tables and opportunities and obviously judging which ones would be easy pickings so to speak.
Suddenly there was a scream and a yell and they had descended on a table a little way away from us and got away with part of their lunch.
With that a male attendant arrived with a stick in hand and of course the monkeys took one look and vanished.

But then he proceeded to admonish the tourists for feeding the monkeys, they protested their innocence but later when we met one of them while in the ladies, they were very upset by the whole incident and said they hadn't intended to feed them and as this was their first visit hadn't realised how wily the monkeys could be.

So yes, we did feel the attendant was a bit harsh on them but I guess he has to deal with this every day and gets sick and tired of it all.

Actually I missed them in december/januari. At most places they were fairly far away. At Babalala we saw 2 starlings, at Mooiplaas none that I can remember. Makhadzi had 1, and a few squirrels and hornbills, but all shy, Muzandzeni was empty too.
I love the sound of the starlings, and want some better photos of them, so I keep an eye on them.
We were lucky enough now to have a baboon problem at all.

But feeding = leaving food out where they can get at it yes. At least in my eyes.