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WALKING
WITH RHINOS
James Clarke
describes a new way of experiencing the Kruger Park…
Until recently, it was unthinkable for tourists to walk
in "big five" country: the general opinion
within the National Parks Board was that the big five
(lion, leopard, black rhino, elephant and buffalo) would
nail them. Today, one has to book a year ahead for the
privilege of walking Kruger Park's "wilderness
trails" - and even then your name goes into a hat.
The draw was, in effect, South Africa's first lottery
- and if your name was not drawn you had to wait another
year.
Now, according to the November edition of the medical
profession's leisure magazine, "diversions",
a consortium of lodge/safari operators (with a heavy
commitment to local black empowerment) has made a successful
bid for one of Kruger Park's seven concession areas.
This is the one and only "pristine and primitive
wilderness area" that has been opened to the public
- and even then only a few people at a time.
The consortium has latched on to the public's desire
to walk in the wilds and has built three camps, a few
kilometres apart. One is a luxury thatched camp (five
star stuff) on stilts for 16 people; another is a semi-luxury
safari-tent camp for eight; and the third is the most
exciting - a "sleep out" facility comprising
three shelters on platforms in massive riverine trees.
Few tourists realise that visitors to Kruger Park have
access to less than 10 percent of the park's 2 million
ha. (The park is about the size of Israel or Wales).
The 12 000 ha concession area is inside the Central
Region of Kruger (20 km northeast of Skukuza Camp as
the hornbill flies) in an area the public has never
before entered.
Rhino Walking Safaris - known as "Rhino's"
because the area probably has more rhino (both species)
per square kilometre than any area in Africa - recently
opened its first completed camp. Known as Plains Camp,
it comprises four luxury tents with built-in flush lavatories
and showers as well as a central bar/lounge and a dining
room. It is on the edge of a great plain picked over
by lions and veined with game trails. At night, one
often hears lions and hyenas.
The concession shares a 15km boundary with Mala Mala
but the difference between Rhino's and the private game
reserves just outside the Park is that Rhino's huge
area is not criss-crossed by roads. The entire 12 000
ha has but one 3km access road leading to the near-complete
Rhino Post Camp. There is no fence separating the concession
from the rest of Africa.
Rhino's allows no off road driving (the reserves to
the west allow vehicles to crash through the bush to
see the Big five and one such reserve has 24 safari
vehicles). Its major attraction is a 'foot safari' (maximum
number 8) where one knows that once clear of the camps,
one is not going to see a vehicle or other human being
in what is virgin territory. Each group is accompanied
by two armed rangers- both highly trained dead shots
with a comprehensive knowledge of the bush.
I walked with such a group -there were six of us aged
from 28 to well over 60. The pace was leisurely and
we learned how to read the 'daily news' at sandy spots
where only an hour or two before a lion had a superimposed
its spoor upon a zebra's. We became adept at distinguishing
between duiker and steenbok spoor, between giraffe and
kudu droppings, as well as judging an elephant's height
from the print of its back foot - twice the circumference
equals the height at the shoulder.
We came across a black-maned lion and followed it for
a while and came close to zebra and impala. Everywhere
there were signs of white rhino and, less frequently,
the smaller black rhino. We finally rounded the corner
of what was probably a centuries-old game path and there
in front of us was what we least expect to see - a surrealistic
scene comprising a long table complete with elegant
starched linen and laden under a delicious safari brunch
transported by the chef and her staff along a hidden
track
For clients who prefer not to walk, Rhino's has an
8-seater open safari vehicle that takes them into the
Kruger Park - with a knowledgeable guide. But after
sunset, when the Kruger Park's tourists have to be back
inside their rest camps, Rhino's can take clients on
night drives along certain of Kruger's roads.
Rhino Post, the main camp, is due to open in October
17. It comprises eight win-bedded thatched chalets with
electricity and luxurious bathrooms. Each chalet has
its own elevated deck looking out across the Mutlumuvi
River where a resident leopard appears unfazed by building
activities. All the buildings are on stilts - even the
walkways are elevated so that vegetation is not unduly
affected. An ancient elephant path past the swimming
pool l has not been touched.
When it comes to the ecology, all the private concessions
are controlled by the Kruger Park's wildlife management
team. If any culling becomes necessary, Kruger Park
rangers take over. The Park also oversees all aspects
of development and monitors Rhino's Walking Safari's
operations as well.
Many conservators believe that walking safaris are
a solution to the problem of allowing more people to
enjoy South Africa's national parks with minimum impact.
As I have often been told, 'after all, a national park's
prime purpose is conservation'.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Rhino Walking Safaris - telephone
011 467 1886. Fax: 011 467 4758. E-mail:
info@zulunet.co.za Website: www.zulunet.co.za
Postal address: P.O. Box 69859, Bryanston 2021.
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