A Travel and vacations forum. TravelBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » TravelBanter forum » Travel Regions » Africa
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Kruger Again



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old January 17th, 2007, 07:45 PM posted to rec.travel.africa
Raymond
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1
Default 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.
  #2  
Old January 18th, 2007, 07:24 AM posted to rec.travel.africa
Corné
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 34
Default 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





  #3  
Old January 20th, 2007, 11:11 AM posted to rec.travel.africa
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 52
Default 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.
  #4  
Old January 21st, 2007, 09:20 AM posted to rec.travel.africa
Corné
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 34
Default 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



  #5  
Old January 21st, 2007, 12:05 PM posted to rec.travel.africa
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 25
Default 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


  #6  
Old January 21st, 2007, 07:04 PM posted to rec.travel.africa
Scott Elliot
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 14
Default 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


  #7  
Old January 22nd, 2007, 08:42 AM posted to rec.travel.africa
Corné
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 34
Default 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



 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Live Kruger Cam etiennem Africa 4 December 3rd, 2005 09:47 PM
Somewhere to stay near the top of Kruger [email protected] Africa 4 February 13th, 2005 08:32 AM
Kruger grocery stores doug Africa 3 March 8th, 2004 07:47 AM
Your next destination, Kruger in Africa? Gwynt Travel USA & Canada 0 March 5th, 2004 07:52 AM
Jo,burg to Kruger Michael Rowlands Africa 2 October 9th, 2003 06:51 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 11:47 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 TravelBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.