SANParks.org Forums

Well if it is "free" it might be a good idea, but I would rather pay to stay at Balule or Tzendze.

The New year thing sounds good to me.

Sprocky

October sounds good to me

I was trying to think of activities/fund raisers that we as a group of mite could do but im not very inventive as far as that is concerned. However im quite sure the ideas will start flowing.

I guess dates that far away don't really mean much to me right now. If I commit now it gives me a good excuse later on though

Just in case you all missed it the first time in my earlier post, how about devoting one day to a clean-up operation?

Sounds great to me. Anything for a "Free" guided walk in the park.

Last time I was at N'wamanzi,it was really full of litter. We can clean that up and do "chicken parade" around Balule. All the way to the river.

I have never camped. The only gear I have is .... a cooler box or two

I want to throw the cat amongst the pigeons:
All 7 huts in Bateleur Bushveld Camp are available from:
11 June to 14 June 2010 (3 nights)
14 June to 18 June 2010 (4 nights)
8 July to 11 July 2010 (3 nights)

Above times are all in the school holidays. Seeing that the south will be overflowing with soccer fans the north does sound cool.

I think the reason why they may be "Available" is precisely because of the SWC (Soccer World Cup).

I would prefer to go afterwards anyway, personally. (and this has nothing to do wth wanting to watch any of the matches. I will be one of those who has zero interest in SWC 2010 or any other year. Try as I may, I just cannot bring mysef to enoy the game.)

I feel exactly the same.

This sounds great and we should be there as well depending on when, etc!!

And maybe we can go to camps or gates and take the time to explain or make people aware of the rules????

Not a bad idea, though isn't this impinging on the HR's duties? I imagine they'd welcome the help, but we should check to be sure?

Maybe we could plan a morning or afternoon on designing some new educational posters or presentations? Any marketing or advertising people around? (Ideas like rolling videos or presentations on rules being displayed at gates and picnic spots etc have been discussed in the past). This is still a half-baked idea in my head.

Maybe we should turn it into a Sanparks bosberaad

Maybe we can just enjoy a few days in the bush without doing any work or attending any meetings...what do you think about that?

For sure! I imagine you could engage to whatever level you want to.

The reason I'm suggesting these ideas is there has been a lot of talk in other threads about how 'mites can get involved and put actions to words. A lot of good ideas have been mooted, and this seems like a good opportunity to implement some of them.

If you want a few relaxing days in the bush, no worries. I'm sure none of this will be compulsory.

thought i was going to be braaing , and taking of animals ,
no work no work no work
no rules for the weekend , just relax

Still some good ideas coming through...

Getting involved, ,well, I thought that maybe that was one reason we frequent the forum. We share ideas, rag the people who we think are slacking in their jobs, share ideas and talk some crud. Oh, and every now and then, we have a chuckle.

Couple of things we need to remember, as much as we might not like it:

Things in government departments take a long time (sometimes a very long time) to materialise. Committee meetings, sub committee meetings, feasability studies and a whole lot of wasted time and energy. Decisions are seldom taken because of the "coya" thing (cover your posterior).

AS much as I would like to see stuff change, it is going to take a long time and we are only planning one long weekend.

The way I see it is the weekend is planned to have some fun and meet one another. Perhaps raise some funds for the park. For over a year now, I have been making suggestions as to how we can help and lend a hand. Perhaps before we get taken seriously, we maybe need to create some cred.

Can we maybe use the weekend to meet with a few of the parks management, air our concerns and discuss potential solutions. Give then some kind of confidence that we are serious about conservation and serious about making a difference in a resposinsibe manner.

Heck, I don't know. I am foncused about this whole thing. Maybe, I just want to have some fun for a bit and not worry about behavioural problems and other issuesin the park.

Will it really help for us to decend on paradise en masse and snap hundreds of pics to post on the hooglians and idjits times (Gallery of shame)? What difference will that really make?

Getting involved means maybe becoming HR's and making a more meaningful contribution.

Maybe the best thing for us to do is just spend some fun time together and spend some time sharing good memories.

There is a time and place for everything. This is maybe a time to share memories and have fun and just maybe a time to share ideas as to how we can make a real diference.

Maybe we should put this to a vote.

Personally, I vote for a fun weekend.

That's because it's a game for sissies, but that could be disputed.