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How come some of the accommodation in Kruger has baths and others roll-in showers. In terms of accepted standards roll-in showers meet the prescribed domestic and international standards. I am a paraplegic in fairly good condition, but it is still a battle to lift myself into and out of a bath. A quadruplegic or weaker, older person would find a bath impossible. The accessible rondavel at Olifants has a sunken bath that is an accident just waiting to happen as the depth is just too great. At Berg-en-Dal the bath is too wide to be able to reach the grab rail at the other side, while in one of the cottages at Shingwedzi's (perhaps all 4 of them) the grab rails is too far forward meaning a persons legs have nowhere to go. Contrasting with this are roll-in showers at Crocodile Bridge, Skukuza and Pretoriuskop that are sooo much better and easier for a disabled person to transfer their body weight (and I guess use less water)

I have also posted this message to the People with Disabilities Forum. I am hoping someone in Kruger can answer my question. There are some excellent accessible opportunities within SANParks, but the following I don't understand ...

How come some of the accommodation in Kruger has baths and others roll-in showers. In terms of accepted standards roll-in showers meet the prescribed domestic and international standards. I am a paraplegic in fairly good condition, but it is still a battle to lift myself into and out of a bath. A quadruplegic or weaker, older person would find a bath impossible. The accessible rondavel at Olifants has a sunken bath that is an accident just waiting to happen as the depth is just too great. At Berg-en-Dal the bath is too wide to be able to reach the grab rail at the other side, while in one of the cottages at Shingwedzi's (perhaps all 4 of them) the grab rails is too far forward meaning a persons legs have nowhere to go. Contrasting with this are roll-in showers at Crocodile Bridge, Skukuza and Pretoriuskop that are sooo much better and easier for a disabled person to transfer their body weight (and I guess use less water)

Hi Umvubu,

Never having faced such challenges I'm afraid I can't really offer any useful answers to you. However, it is great to see that you are pressing the issue and asking questions. I suspect that the more demand there is for such facilities the more they will be made available.

Any tourist attraction pulling a million tourists a year should cater correctly for paraplegics. I fear that correct facilities will take a bit of time to be put in place but have full faith that with a bit of a shove it will be done.
That said we stayed in of the paraplegic facilities in Letaba and the chap next to us, who was in a wheelchair, seemed to manage fine. Or let me say he didn't complain about his bungalow and we had held a conversation about his disability so it surely would have come up.
regards
bwana

Dear Umvubu,
When the parks authorities first became sensitive to the need to provide accessible accommodation for people with physical disabilities several years ago, they were advised that baths with grab rails were suitable for some wheelchair users (they did not consider that they would be difficult or inaccessible to less strong individuals). Therefore baths were put in in the accessible units at Shingwedzi, Letaba, Olifants and Lower Sabie. While certain individuals feel more stable in a bath, as you correctly point out, a roll-in shower is endorsed in the main purely and simply because it is much easier to transfer one's body weight onto a fold-down seat in a roll-in shower, than to transfer into and out of a bath. Thus, all subsequent adapted units such as at Mopani, Pretoriuskop, most of the adapted units at Skukuza, Crocodile Bridge, and the safari tents at Lower Sabie. (and indeed in virtually all the other accessible units elsewhere in National Parks). Today, no new accessible units should be built within SANParks with a bath.

The bath at Olifants and those at Berg-en-Dal and Shingwedzi are particularly unsuitable and I do hope the park management will find sufficient funds in the near future to replace the baths in these units with roll-in showers, or at least to provide a fold-down seat to the level of the bath surface and insert a hand held shower piece when next they do maintenance.

It is very difficult for both architects and contractors who may not be disabled themselves, to supply facilities that are comfortable to people with disabilities, and it is really helpful if they are guided by people who are in such a situation.

SANParks now tries to embrace a policy of universal accessibility, where the design of facilities should be accessible to all people regardless of whether they have a disability or not. Ideally a larger quantity of accommodation should be universally accessible as any travelling party could have someone with either a permanent or a temporary disability such as an injured limb, pregnancy, frailness with age etc.

If you have not done so already, go to Information for: People with Disabilities on the left hand navigation column to get accounts of the accessibility of the camps in Kruger and the other national parks from the perspective of someone in a wheelchair.

Dear Owl and Guinea Pig
(no relation to the Owl and the Pussycat and the Piggy-Wig with a ring at the end of his nose I presume?)

Thank you both for your efforts to supply me with more information on access issues in SANParks.

Owl, your feedback is valuable. I do hope that the baths get replaced by roll-in showers, as Olifants, Letaba, Berg-en-Dal and Shingwedzi are among my favourites and it would make my stay there far more comfortable.

Guinea-Pig, I don't know if you looked at the detail on the site you marked closely. It is a tour operator's site Siyabona Africa.

They have just lifted the information off the SANParks website's Information for: People with Disabilities. They've tried to disguise it a bit I suspect, but much of it is paraphrased word for word. I must confess though that I find its layout far more confusing than the SANParks information which is laid out in an excellent manner. SANParks need to be commended most highly for their efforts to cater for people with disabilities.

I'm going off the topic here, but I wonder what else they (Siyabona Africa) and other tour operators plagiarise from SANParks website and if it misleads many tourists?

Cheers

Umvubu

Geez, Umvubu, I didn't even notice that! I wonder if it's in any way illegal?

Highly illegal! And there's plenty of it.

We are well aware of these blood sucking parasites.

Major sweeping is in process…

admin

u go admin!!!!! woohoo!!!!!!!

i found the same problem when i was surfing around...... often other sites just repeating almost word for word what can be found on the SANParks webpage... and as umvubu said...a whole lot more confusing...... i actually wondered how it must confuse the foreign tourists who wished to book in Kruger... because the wording on certain webpages actually make u assume that u are booking IN the kruger.......

That's great news Admin! Before this site was redone it was sad that those other sites often had the best info on the park on the web. Now all that's changed however - this site rocks

Laine,

We have a lot of evidence for all the plagiarism taking place, but if you come across some, please forward me the URLs – it will be of great help when weeding the garden…

Cheers,
admin

no problem admin... i came across a few the other day... lemme go see if i still have them around....(please note i am NO bill gates!!!)

The monster is now awake and there is no turning back!

Especially with users who know the difference between the real website and the imposter!

admin

Hi,
I've taken my Dad to the Kruger twice. He was left disabled by polio many years ago and is now 77 and frail. The first time (2002) we stayed at a guest house in Skukuza, then at a guest house in Berg-en-dal (2004). We found the facilities fantastic everywhere within the park. There was always a disabled toilet, always a ramp as an alternative to the steps. dad walks with 2 sticks and metal callipers on his legs, he found difficulty with the bathrooms and opted to have a good wash day and night rather than risk the bath/shower set up.
Apart from that I can't praise the Kruger enough. The park staff were always helpful. The camps and picnic spots were flat enough for him to walk round, we had more trouble trying to curb his enthusiasm! The flights on the other hand from England were a nightmare! and there is now one airline I wouldn't fly with ever again.
Bye for now
Anne

I've browsed the Info for People with Disabilities, but can any of the members recommend some camps in Kruger and other parks where I can take my brother who is in a wheelchair. He really enjoys bird-watching.

Thanks