Africa Geographic November 2003 [antikvár]

Editorial VOLUME 11 NUMBER 10 NOVEMBER 200 3 M Y JL a es, I had left it a bit late and we were barely going to make it back to camp before the gate closed. But anyone who has spent time in Kruger National Park will understand the reluctance to quit that magical moment as a blood-red sun dips below the horizon while before you animals come and go from the water. We stopped briefly to watch a pair of saddle-billed storks glide down to a quiet backwater and now we were really cutting it fine when, around a bend, we met a huge one-tusked bull elephant. He stood with his massive head towards us and ears at full stretch. I sensed immediately that there was no way that we would make camp in time. A good glare later he turned and began to amble away down the centre of the road. With no way around, all we could do was trundle along in his wake. Occasionally he would stop to pick some delicacy from a roadside bush, but just in case we had any intention of trying to slip by he would quickly swing back into the middle. Clearly he was having fun with us, for when we got to the camp turn-off he hesitated and then shuffled off to the left down the very way we had to go. Eventually he lost interest and disappeared into the night, leaving us to explain to the camp guard why we were more than an hour late. I guess the incomprehensible excited babble from our car and the procession of cars behind us were enough to convince him that we weren't spinning a yarn. With a wide smile and a passing 'Did you get the elephant's name and address so I can go and give him a talking to in the morning?' he swung the boom open to let us pass. A small incident that for me sums up the Kruger experience: great game-viewing, always with a chance of the unexpected, and friendly, helpful people. 1 agree fully with Daryl Balfour (see page 31) when he says 'Indisputably it deserves its high rank among the great game parks of Africa ' And for value for money, this great wild place with its spotlessly maintained camps and facilities is unparalleled anywhere on the continent. Just one proviso: the behaviour of visitors. 1 was disturbed by the litter around the big camps (beer cans, packets, tissues) and appalled at the behaviour, possibly through ignorance, of some visitors packing like rugby scrums around kills while hanging out of windows, sitting on roofs and, believe it or not, with car doors open. And a brickbat, too, for some park service personnel and contractors who drive their trucks like maniacs with little regard for visitors and even less for the animals. Something needs to be done. For big game experiences and value for money, this great wild place with its spotlessly maintained camps and facilities is unparalleled anywhere on the continent