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Kruger Again
Hi,
We traveled to SA a few years ago taking some valuable information from this group with us. It was such a good experience that we choose to go again this year mainly to concentrate on Kruger and the surrounding area which we briefly touched last time. We stayed at a simple lodge just outside the park that was fine, not a 10 star but ok. My question is why is the price of the Private Game Reserve Lodges so high? Relative to the "normal" lodges around the park and near the gates, are these other places that good? Cheers, Ray and thanks for the 2005's advice. |
Kruger Again
We stayed at a simple lodge just outside the park that was fine, not a 10 star but ok. My question is why is the price of the Private Game Reserve Lodges so high? Relative to the "normal" lodges around the park and near the gates, are these other places that good? Cheers, Ray and thanks for the 2005's advice. Lodges in private nature reserves (especially those with the Big-5 and open link to Kruger) are more expensive then other lodges in places as Hazyview-Hoedspruit-Phalaborwa. For me this makes sense: with only 8-16 guests maximum hearing lions at night and doing game drives is more exciting then hearing the traffic or the neighbour's dog bark. Prices vary from R400 (basic and rustic) to R3000 (5 stars and you will see the Big-5 in 2 game drives guaranteed). Maybe also because beeing in the unspoilt nature, with all the animals there becomes a rare thing these days. And rare things happen to become more and more expensive. Regards from the bush, Corné. www.amukela.com |
Kruger Again
In article , "Corné"
wrote: Prices vary from R400 (basic and rustic) to R3000 (5 stars and you will see the Big-5 in 2 game drives guaranteed). Maybe also because beeing in the unspoilt nature, with all the animals there becomes a rare thing these days. And rare things happen to become more and more expensive. Also: privately owned is just that: there is no government support like there is in Kruger proper. -- -Glennl The despammed service works OK, but unfortunately now the spammers grab addresses for use as "from" address too! e-mail hint: add 1 to quantity after gl to get 4317. |
Kruger Again
schreef in bericht ... In article , "Corné" wrote: Prices vary from R400 (basic and rustic) to R3000 (5 stars and you will see the Big-5 in 2 game drives guaranteed). Maybe also because beeing in the unspoilt nature, with all the animals there becomes a rare thing these days. And rare things happen to become more and more expensive. Also: privately owned is just that: there is no government support like there is in Kruger proper. Also: because it is privately owned, and as soon as my neighbour hear the lions at 22:00, we go for a real night drive! And believe me we can manage our own reserves without government support! Privately owned means also owning a great investement! Prices have rocketed since 2002. Bushregards, Corné. www.amukela.com |
Kruger Again
It's expensive for private game reserves to keep the nostalgic myth of
Edenic, pre-human "unspoilt nature" maintained and up to the ever rising levels of competitive fantasy in the marketplace. Like sweet confections they're pleasing -- even delightful -- but in the end, they're artificial and can cause rot. The reality is that wildlife and people have been inseparable across nearly all of Africa for thousands of years, and that Kruger and private reserves were created in the last century in South Africa by kicking local people off (with token compensation coming only in the last decade or so). Yes, it's nice to see animals without someone else's car idling beside you, but recognize that you're paying for fantasy in either case -- just a bit more for a bit more splendid fantasy in a private reserve. This, of course, links to a hoary rant about what kicking the local people off did to their lives and cultures, which I'd be inclined to ignore in this NG were it not for the smug comment about "owning a great investment" and the fact that the person who made it may well benefit from hearing part of the rant in any case. One hidden aspect of the hollowness of the safari fantasy is that the tourism industry is 99.2% white owned in South Africa, and is the least changed since the end of apartheid (1994) among the top industrial sectors in the country in terms of ownership, earnings and governance. How much pride ought one feel in not needing government support -- what about lodge staff and their families? People in the nearby town? Are they living happily without government support? Or are their private safari lodge wages enough to feed, clothe, and pay the school fees and healthcare for their dependents? Especially you, Corné -- you're a Dutchman and less than 3 years a resident in Africa. The locals here aren't simply a passive background of movie extras for you to 'give up the good life' back in Holland and come play out your Hemingway or Robert Redford fantasies of a life in the African bush that you sell back to Europeans at a tidy profit. Understand the context of your adopted country and show a bit of humility, please, for your own good fortune and out of respect for those who don't share it. By all means let's assist and encourage people in this NG to come to Africa and enjoy the wildlife, landscapes, cultures and people. A bit of fantasy is what a good holiday needs, and there's no harm in that as long as it's in balance. But don't bring a bunch of uninformed, self-congratulatory superiority crap into the thread too, without expecting to get an earful. Kurt Corné wrote: schreef in bericht ... In article , "Corné" wrote: Prices vary from R400 (basic and rustic) to R3000 (5 stars and you will see the Big-5 in 2 game drives guaranteed). Maybe also because beeing in the unspoilt nature, with all the animals there becomes a rare thing these days. And rare things happen to become more and more expensive. Also: privately owned is just that: there is no government support like there is in Kruger proper. Also: because it is privately owned, and as soon as my neighbour hear the lions at 22:00, we go for a real night drive! And believe me we can manage our own reserves without government support! Privately owned means also owning a great investement! Prices have rocketed since 2002. Bushregards, Corné. www.amukela.com |
Kruger Again
wrote in message
ups.com... .................rant..................... One hidden aspect of the hollowness of the safari fantasy is that the tourism industry is 99.2% white owned in South Africa, and is the least changed since the end of apartheid (1994) among the top industrial sectors in the country in terms of ownership, earnings and governance. ...................more rant.............................. Kurt, Since the end of apartied the official goal of South African government has been that there are no white, black or coloured South Africans, just South Africans. Are you advocating the return of another form of racism? Hopefully South Africa can progress toward a society of racial equality without resorting to the discrimination you appear to be advocating. South Africa has much more serious and important things to deal with than the colour of the skin of a few game park owners. Scott |
Kruger Again
Scott Elliot wrote:
wrote in message ups.com... ................rant..................... One hidden aspect of the hollowness of the safari fantasy is that the tourism industry is 99.2% white owned in South Africa, and is the least changed since the end of apartheid (1994) among the top industrial sectors in the country in terms of ownership, earnings and governance. ...................more rant.............................. Kurt, Since the end of apartied the official goal of South African government has been that there are no white, black or coloured South Africans, just South Africans. Are you advocating the return of another form of racism? Hopefully South Africa can progress toward a society of racial equality without resorting to the discrimination you appear to be advocating. South Africa has much more serious and important things to deal with than the colour of the skin of a few game park owners. Scott Scott -- clearly you don't live in South Africa if you're willing to post such a naive statement of race, discrimination, transformation and equality in this country (I leave aside your mis-spelling of apartheid as further evidence of this fact). "A few game park owners" is a trivial element of the issue at hand. Having the goal of a raceless country is very different from the practical policies needed to change entrenched interests in order to get to that goal. Ends ain't means. I can recommend you look at http://www.tourismbeecharter.co.za and more broadly the DTI's national strategy on BBBEE ("South Africa's Economic Transformation: A Strategy for Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment"), a copy of which is at www.thedti.gov.za or http://bee.sabinet.co.za/charters/be...y_document.pdf. If you think these issues aren't central to many of South Africa's other socio-economic and health problems, a quick read of those documents and websites will clarify the links for you. Scoff and trivialize it if you like, but for companies that ignore the carrot now, the stick will come regardless. Being compliant with the tourism BBBEE scorecard will become a prerequisite for competing in the SA tourism industry in just a few years. Right now, it is a differentiator, a benefit to forward-thinking companies who are leaders in trying to make a difference (similar to Fair Trade in Tourism designation - www.fairtourismsa.org.za). In time, non-compliant companies won't be able to compete and will struggle to stay in business -- not only won't government funded organisations be able to assist them (e.g., no membership in a local tourism bureau or listings on national portals are both likely steps to be taken in later stages of the program), but companies doing business with them will be penalized as well on their own scorecard compliance, so it's not just a lack of direct and indirect government support that's at issue but industry suppliers, service providers, etc. that will create negative pressure too. Also, what tourist would want to go to a game reserve that doesn't support the national consensus on ethical business practice in the industry? Do you think the NGOs won't create blacklists and put pressure on the big online travel agencies and portals as well as the tour operators and travel agents to refuse to do business with non-compliant companies? What consumer travel lifestyle media will write glowing reviews and features about non-compliant destinations? Why would a tourist choose to go on holiday to a place with such stigma? There are many, many private reserves that will be compliant. With tourists currently concerned about the ethics of long haul air travel's negative environmental impact (and actively paying for "carbon balancing"), one would be naive to think that these central social issues won't affect the marketplace too. Kurt |
Kruger Again
By all means let's assist and encourage people in this NG to come to Africa and enjoy the wildlife, landscapes, cultures and people. Hear hear! And a good and not expensive way is to visit Amukela Game Lodge, owner managed and maximum accommodating 8 guests at once. Authenthic township visits can be arranged on request. We also visit Thomas' (one of our staff memebers) house, which he built himself. After staying in the unspoilt bush (yesterday the Elephants were at my waterhole) you will understand the Hemingway of Africa! Bushregards, Corné. www.amukela.com |
Kruger Again
"Scott Elliot" schreef in bericht news:9XNsh.173359$YV4.104729@edtnps89... wrote in message ups.com... ................rant..................... One hidden aspect of the hollowness of the safari fantasy is that the tourism industry is 99.2% white owned in South Africa, and is the least changed since the end of apartheid (1994) among the top industrial sectors in the country in terms of ownership, earnings and governance. ...................more rant.............................. Kurt, Since the end of apartied the official goal of South African government has been that there are no white, black or coloured South Africans, just South Africans. Are you advocating the return of another form of racism? Hopefully South Africa can progress toward a society of racial equality without resorting to the discrimination you appear to be advocating. South Africa has much more serious and important things to deal with than the colour of the skin of a few game park owners. I 100% agree. When busy in the process of immigration to SA, the government official which I dealt with made it clear that SA is waiting for young entrepeneurs, who are willing to invest large amounts in the tourism industry. As for mentioning the color, typical for an American who doesn't look around in his own country, what happened and still happens. Colour is no longer an issue anymore in the new South Africa, creating jobs is however. And since my arrival and after building up from scratch my lodge, a lot of locals were employed (and still are until now). What have you done for SA Kurt? Instead of playing Mr. Moral? Corné. www.amukela.com |
Kruger Again
Kurt,
think you are missing the point here...? Look at the original post! In stead of making everything political, better is that you contribute something more then big words to this country!! However... regards from the sunny bush in Africa :) Corné. www.amukela.com |
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