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I was reading the topic about the metallic camp stickers and that brought back memories of trying to get the sticker collection complete only to find time and again that stickers in some camps were always out of stock. It also made me think of all the souvenirs I brought back from Kruger and one in particular springs to mind...

Back in I think 2000 I bought a Kruger Park Zippo lighter in Satara and when I got home I showed it to my brother. He immediately asked me where his Kruger Park Zippo lighter was and I told him it was still in KNP and I promised to bring one back for him from next trip later that year. When I went to Kruger again I was travelling through Kruger from the South to the North. I visited every shop in every camp from Crocodile Bridge to Shingwedzi and the Zippo was not on sale anymore in any of the shops. When I got to Punda Maria I'd basically given up as I knew the shop in Punda Maria well and didn't expect to find any Zippo lighters there. I had to go to the shop to get some beers so I asked them if they sold this particular lighter and to be frank I was just expecting to get a blank stare in return. I underestimated Punda Maria though as they had SIX copies in stock Needless to say my brother was happy with it and he's still using it to this day.

This is the lighter I bought for myself which is still unused and in mint condition. It's probably a collectors item but I'll never sell it



What is your coolest or most cherished souvenir you ever brought from Kruger?

Cool topic, Madach! I think mine is my KNP map from 1984, which I still prefer at times, altho there is more information in the booklets, as it is huge. Other special souvenirs from those first trips in the 1980s are those metallic stickers, a few cloth camp badges (which I have sewn onto a denim handbag ) and my wall hanging tea towel map of KNP. You Zippo lighter is gorgeous!

Stunning lighter, Madach

When I stay in a camp at Kruger I like to buy a coffee mug or drinking glass from that particular camp. I have a thing about coffee mugs. There is nothing nicer than getting up in the morning to a cup of coffee from one of these special places.

My favourite mug so far is a lovely black mug from Pretorius Kop with a Lion print. The mug is top quality and the coffee tastes great. I also like to drink from some glasses that I bought at Punda. They were meant for children, I think. They have wonderful little animal motives that leave me smiling.

So far I have found nothing with Tambotie stamped on it I'll just have to keep going back.

I'm the same as MM. I collect mugs when I travel. When in Kruger, I get a mug with the name of the camp in which I stay the longest. I also try get one with a particular animal that has meaning for that trip. For example, I've got an Olifants mug with an engraved/embossed leopard, because we saw two leopard on that trip.

So far I have the normal Kruger mug (lion's head), a leopard Olifants mug, a lion Pretoriuskop mug (not sure why I chose lion, we didn't see any on that trip), and one of the plastic travel mugs which I use several times a day at work. The shop at Skukuza didn't have the right mug last trip.

I also have these other mugs:
Cape Agulhas
Bontebok NP (more of a beer stein but that's what they had)

Far as I remember, MZNP didn't have any mugs when I was there, nor did Karoo, Tsitsikamma or Wilderness.

One of my most favourite souvenirs is a tuft of the hair from a lions mane that was left on a thorn bush in the Olifants wilderness trails area - I have kept it in a 35 mm film canister for the last 20 years or more .

I cant actually remember what my coolest souvenier from the park is but I always remember as a kid we could chose one thing from one shop during the trip that our parents would buy my sister and I.

I have to say I think the shops had much nicer and authentic souveniers back in the 90's now they are mostly filled with silly touristy souveniers.

I don't know if I can call it my coolest souvenir because I have done something very stupid and irresponsible. When I was still a student during the earlies 80's, we went to Kruger and stayed at Shingwedzi. Late one afternoon, just before gate closing time, we were driving slowly along the river and the spotted a beautiful set of buffalo horns lying in the dry river, about 2km from the camp. I mentioned to my brother that it would be nice to have such horns mounted and displayed on a wall.

After the evening's braai, we sat around the fire drinking a couple of Scotches and talking about what we have seen during the day and what routes to take the next day. Eventually we discussed the buffalo horns and decided to fetch it. Armed with just an Okapi knife each, we jumped over the fence and walked the 2km up the river with the moon as the only light and brought the horns back.

It is now mounted and displayed on a wall in my office.

It was the first and the last time that I have done something that irresponsible an illegal.

I collect charms for my silver charm bracelet - so instead of buying stuff that gets put in the cupboard, I buy a charm from the place visited..e.g Eiffel Tower etc.

One visit to Kruger saw about 25 tortoises that trip and I managed to get a little tortoise charm..

Another trip we saw a large Sable herd near Pretoriuskop - and I found a Sable charm in the Skukuza shop!

Each time I wear the bracelet, I run my fingers over the charms and the memories come flooding back

International visitors are often bashed on this forum for irresponsible behaviour, but this story takes irresponsible behaviour to a whole new level

Cool souvenir though

Great story Rooies!

I have seen a nice set of buffalo horns a few years ago next to the road...fortunately my boot was full!

Rooies ! Drank is n bliksem , ne ?

I recall a tale of upturned animal horns hastily bundled into the back of a car im KNP - they looked okay upside down in the veld but once turned over in the car they leaked liquid vile smelling remains of animal matter - it took a long time to obliterate the odour .

My parents took a Wildebeest skull, but those worms ruined it A couple of years ago we found the enormous bone next to the road, it is huge! Like a meter long. When I first got my puppy we thought of giving it to her, but it's too huge.

A porcupine quill we found in the Satara area is my favourite

Those buff pasties can sure fill a boot quickly huh Theuns??

I must add that I think that somebody like a ranger must have placed the horns there because there was nothing around the horns which suggested that the buffalo was actually killed or died there. There was no smell, or anything else. I put it in a store room until it was needed as a prop for a Round Table melodrama (I was a member of Round Table) I played the part of Adam, in a number called Tarzadam and used the horns as a seat. A member of the audience was a taxidermist and as soon as the curtains closed, he was standing next to me and said to me that I must bring the horns to him the following Monday, which I have done. He later confirmed that the horns qualify for Rowland Ward.

But back to our Shingwedzi trip. Because I was a student, I didn't have a car, so we travelled with my mother in her Passat. The horns took up almost all the space in the boot, and there was only space left for a couple of loose items. My mother was very upset about the whole incident and wanted us to leave the horns behind but I was adamant that those horns were going to the Free State. The result was that I had to carry most of the luggage on my lap through the rest of the trip and all the way back home.

Students are neither humans nor animals. Something in between. And the Scotch didn't help that evening.

Rooies , please post a picture of the horns if your children have shown you the ropes !