Open Safari Vehicles in Kruger

[stefan9]

Where did Stefan say he had created an App?

Lol wouldn't be working the 9-5 job if I was that good.

H has his view which is fair enough. I prefer to take all my tech with and use it to enhance my xp in the park.

[Bananaboy]

To include the OSV's with the quota numbers is not possible as they are allowed earlier access into Kruger.

[Lisbeth]

Bananaboy Welcome to Africa wild

Can they not be counted all the same

[Bananaboy]

Over July Holidays seeing OSV's driving past the long rows of local tourists they were unhappy. Just think what will happen if a big group of tourists in a bus arrives and closes the quota by being able to enter earlier into Kruger.

[RobertT]

They do have a prebooking for access to park so you could guarantee yourself entrance. This also mainly affects local populace/ day visitors with wild cards who could also come at another time/ day if quota's are full.

The quota's are apparently worked out on facilities available restaurants, bathrooms etc. If they do not control numbers through quota's then the facilities would never be able to cope, then the next step is we need to build more facilities. I also do not know why you would have a quota's system if you are not going to follow it. The OSV's can also prebook to guarantee entrance, am sure they do not wait on morning to see if someone pitches, they generally know how many people they are taking before hand through bookings, those that do not prebook must be on a first come first served basis.

https://www.sanparks.org/assets/docs/gr ... ssment.pdf

Some of the numbers in this doc of 5000 visitors entering the South of park are scary and this was in 2012 before the ballooning of OSV's. The quota for South is 3500, so this is 1500 more than quota, spot where the congestion etc is coming in. This is also visitors which would not include staff, maintenance, anti poaching, police, concession staff, sales reps, deliveries etc etc.

[Richprins]

Reply from an experienced and respected OSV operator:



What is currently going on is counterproductive, because the participants are hostile already, and won’t give a balanced argument whatsoever, well it seems they aren’t interested in doing so.

SANParks has got enough on their hands currently with the poaching on the increase, as well as having to deal with unruly and misbehaving tourists, because 85% of complaints are against and from and about normal tourists, 10% against SANParks vehicles and staff and possibly 5 % OSV’s (if that).

What they are asking for is exactly the opposite of what self-regulation is. I have identified all the issues they are complaining about, and we have addressed many of them, guides are trained and have to have attained a minimum level of learning. Every three years guides need to partake in the Kruger national Park Orientation course, which is a 2 day event, where they learn about all aspects of the KNP, especially with regards to changes in the water policies, fire policies and poaching to mention but a few. And they have to pass this with 60% or do it all over again. They are also registered with DEAT and have signed a Tourist Guide code of conduct, a copy can be collected at the registrar of tour-guides offices in Nelspruit, which are situated at MTPA offices, speak to Justine.

There are currently 250 OSV’s operational, and on any given day 60% of them are working which brings it to possibly 150 per day! The southern section of the park is approximately 900 000ha which brings the concentration to roughly 1 vehicle per 6000ha. (250 OSV’s = 1 per 8800 ha). At any given time 4000 vehicles a day over 2.2 million ha makes it 1 vehicle per 550 ha.

On any given day there are approximately 4000 (this is a rough estimate of vehicles already overnighting in the park, as well as day entrances. The number is fictitious, because SANParks cannot/won’t give us exact number actually being let in, over the quota, which is also a hugely grey contested area, it could quite well be way more) normal passenger/tourist vehicles in the southern part of the park, so I ask where and what sector of the market is the problem.

Seen another way:

Approx 3000* km of road. 150 OSV’s = 1 OSV per 12km, 4000 vehicles = 0.75km per tourist vehicle, so I essentially don’t see the problem being here.

Right next radios and other forms of information:

Whether one gets information via radio, smart phone apps i.e. Latest Sightings, which was raved about by SANParks themselves not so long ago, sightings board in the camp or via word of mouth, what you as a person does or the way one reacts to that information is key. If you want to race off to the next sighting, please do, believe me a radio doesn’t make you go faster!!! Next time you in the park, give a “leeukyker” info and watch what his reaction is, even better follow them and judge for yourself.

Radios are an integral part/tool of a nature guide, just like bino’s and reference books are, specifically when working with a group, i.e. that is four or five vehicles working together, they all need to have breakfast together, all have to have lunch together, all have to see more or less the same thing, all have to be dropped off together at the same place and time, all logistical info, nothing to do with sightings.

Part of the agreement we have with SANPatks is to keep the guests safe at all times. With cell phone coverage in the park this is not possible. Most of the tourists we work with are 60 and upwards, and may need emergency medical care asap, I cannot commit to that if I don’t have all sorts of forms of communication at all times.

If a sighting comes up, and its full of “matoerjans” I and many of my colleagues go the other way just to stay away from such interactions.

Control room : not going to happen, they want industry to fund this. We are already the most controlled body out there. All the bigger companies have trackers in and monitor movements of vehicles at all times. If a warning light comes up because of speeding we are onto the radio and we sort out immediately. Speeding, if you are traveling in a given direction, and another vehicle is travelling in the opposite direction at the same speed as you, guaranteed 90% of the time you will say the other vehicle is speeding, without accurate measuring equipment, one cannot say that the given vehicle is speeding.

One offence and you out? Also not going to happen, we unfortunately are bound by labour law practices, rules and regulation of the Labour department. There are processes one has to go through, one of them being a hearing, another being coaching etc. etc. etc.

No this goes much deeper than just a petition against OSV’s. The very people that are complaining are also at fault, they should leave their Johannesburg mentalities in Johannesburg (the one of immediate gratification and the one of entitlement) and do what we all do, stop playing quasi policemen and wannabee rangers and general know it alls, lay back and enjoy Kruger for what it is, and stop following the OSV’s to get to possible sightings. Yes recently I have 7 vehicles following me the whole day!!!

[Flutterby]

85% of complaints are against and from and about normal tourists, 10% against SANParks vehicles and staff and possibly 5 % OSV’s (if that).

I find that very hard to believe.

Whether one gets information via radio, smart phone apps i.e. Latest Sightings, which was raved about by SANParks themselves not so long ago, sightings board in the camp or via word of mouth, what you as a person does or the way one reacts to that information is key.

Info from apps can only be received where there is signal. Radios have constant signal!

If a sighting comes up, and its full of “matoerjans” I and many of my colleagues go the other way just to stay away from such interactions.

Again, find that hard to believe. Can't remember how many times we have had OSV's speeding past us to get to a sighting!

[Lisbeth]

1. A very personal opinion Busses should not at all be allowed in National wildlife reserves - the bush feeling disappears if you see a bus

2. Day visitors are certainly not where Sanparks earn the most money, IMO it is more a political obligation. The entrance fee for SA citizens is very cheap.

3. Why are OSVs allowed to enter earlier? and what are they charged? My experience is that they are certainly advantaged when it comes to foreigners. I do not think that they pay the entrance price for the single clients, most likely a certain amount for each vehicle or more likely ( for the bigger OSV companies) a yearly amount

4. Should the day visitors not be counted per vehicle and not per person? ( counting a OSV triple and a bus ten times )

I might not be the most informed park visitor, but the above and a lot more comes to my mind

[RobertT]

Not sure with calculation on hectares can be used. You would need to use road surface.

Then on road surface saying 150 OSV's and then using the whole parks road surface is also misleading, I would say 90% of OSV's are in South where the visitors vehicles numbers will be spread over the whole park admittedly concentrated South but the split would be different.

If radio's are so important for medical emergencies then surely all who frequent the park should be able to have comms for medical emergencies. I am told the gent who rolled his ford just above Satara was 86. A lot of pensioners frequent the park and I have seen very little news of medical emergencies that required radio's.
If it is important that the group eats together, see's the same things and keeps a similar itinerary, there are line of sight radios and vehicles can keep in range of each other, no need to broadcast it to others km's away unless you have agreements to split up and radio sightings so you cover a greater area to increase your chances.

If using his 4000 vehicles and 150 OSV's and 5% of complaints, the ratio tells me there are more complaints against OSV's than the ratio of OSV's in park. You have 4% of vehicles having 5% of complaints, but these figures are all just guestimates. If the ratio of complaints wasn't higher, Sanparks would not have pushed for the regulations of the industry. I agree there are a lot of complainers out there who complain for anything, but have also personally seen the behaviour of some guides. Also don't know how you would differentiate staff in private vehicles to tourists?

Being condescending to Leeukykers and Johannesburg people also doesn't endear me to his response, he justifies that the radio is for medical reasons yet they use them to also find the sightings and the Leeu's so they could impress guests to get a bigger tip. How is that different from a what a Leeukyker is doing? You are both going to a sighting and possibly a Lion sighting for your tourists as that is also what they want to see.

They should do away with wild card and have daily conservation fee's, the fees can drop in proportion to the time you stay in the park over a calendar year. It will cut down on some spur of moment am bored day visitors and those wanting to use the park as a entertainment venue.

[Lisbeth]

Robert! A lot of common sense