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I have heard rumours that Shingwedzi is in danger of closing temporarely due to the water shortage brought about by the current drought in the north of Kruger. Is this true? We plan on going to Shingwedzi in December for 4 nights so this will affect our plans severely.
For the sake of the wildlife I really hope the area get some good rains very soon .

I also hope Northern Kruger gets some good rain soon

Maybe they should use some of the equipment from the closed down waterholes to get water for the camp.

Ifubesi, there were some serious droughts, much worse than now over the years, so I doubt it. BUT, if they do close it down for that reason, I think they should get the Old SANParks Regime back to run things.

Hallo there!!

Is Shingwedzi really closing? I'm going from the 16th untill the 23rd of December

rufie, no chance it will close, it will be the fastest way for current SANPark Management company to loose their Jobs. I am there around as well that time, wear the Yellow ribbon, we can have a cold one

Ifubesi, where did you hear the rumours? I have also booked to be there mid December and at Punda.

Is this a genuine possibility, or just a general "Perhaps they will close Shing" rumour?

@Crested Val, I heard it through the grape-vine... Basically from family that were in Kruger recently. However I am also starting to doubt these rumours. You know how a rumour can start and get a life of its own...
Lets hope this is the case.

Scipio, Rufi and Crested Val, perhaps we will bump into each other while there .

I'll bring beer, just in case there is no water.

I am sure all the camps have made contingency plans for scenarios like that. Shing is not too far from a military base and with assistance of the army, sufficient water can be delivered by way of water tankers and with strict monitoring of water usage, there wouldn't be any problems. The loss in revenue will be much more than the cost of transporting emergency supplies. If the camps in KTP can cope, so will Shingwedzi.

I drove from Mopane up the S50 to Shingwedzi at the end of October. There was water in Grootvlei but after that I didn't see a single elephant [or a car for that matter] and the Kanniedood was completely dry. This is the view from the hide.

Kanniedood - completely dry by jansp, on Flickr

Hi 'mites

I will find out for you.

Lol you two just crack me up

I bet there is a lot of subterranian water in the camp environs , this is not the first time the Shingwedzi river has had no visible water on the surface - in the drought of 1992 baboons died of hunger & thirst in the far north and I do not recall the camp being closed .

Dear All,

The far north is indeed very dry and it is hoped it will rain soon, both in the park as well as in the catchment areas to the north and west of the camp. Traditionally Shingwedzi gets it's water from the river but it also has emergency boreholes should the river source become a problem. There are no plans to close Shingwedzi down.

With kind regards.

JOEP (joep.stevens@sanparks.org)

Thank you Joep