SKUKUZA – To celebrate the 90th birthday of the Kruger National Park (KNP) on May 31, management encouraged guests and staff to share memories on various social-media platforms. Visitors and Kruger lovers eagerly responded to this call and shared various memories.

Some have been visiting the Kruger since the ‘60s.

Zania Collin shared her KNP memories on Facebook. “Braaiing, the smell of wood fires for the hot water and running barefoot in the rain,” are memories that stand out for her.

For Lael Richards it is “the excitement of going through the gate,” while for others a puff adder on the verandah of the Skukuza tea room or monkeys stealing bread. Elephants pushing down trees and hyenas dropping in to steal food were also mentioned.

Lyn Hughes said, “The smell of Kruger will always stay with me. Nothing can beat it.”

From these memories it is clear the KNP holds a special place in everyone’s hearts and has become an icon for the country on many levels, including conservation, tourism and national pride.

The KNP proudly hosted over 1,7 million tourists in 2015.

The magic million was first exceeded during March 2003 and the tourist figure has remained above one million ever since.

“We have people, who are beyond their golden years, who have coming to the park every year since they were infants. You hear these loyal seniors in years referring to the park as a pilgrimage for them, a retreat where they get replenished and a place of tranquillity which brings about a sense of purpose in life. We would like to urge those people in particular to go down the memory lane, share with us how much they love the park,” said the KNP managing executive, Mr Glenn Phillips.

Mpumalanga premier, Mr David Mabuza, wished the employees and management a happy birthday.

“All of us in the provincial government are delighted to wish the staff and management of the Kruger National Park a happy and joyful 90th birthday. We take pride indeed to be associated with the park, which is just a stone’s throw away from us, through opportunities that you offer to our communities.We wish you great success as you continue to assist us in providing jobs for many families residing adjacent the park. We hope you would continue to open the doors for many of our youth from the villages surrounding the park who might consider careers in tourism and environmental management,” said Mabuza.

He promised government would continue to rally behind the fight against rhino poaching in the park as the illegal killing of the rhinos created a growing threat to the wildlife.

“The Kruger National Park is one of our strategic tourism attractions for us as a province, therefore wildlife crime will definitely have a negative economic impact. As we wish the park strong health on their birthday, we wish to commit that we will work with them in an effort to stop the rhino poaching. May all their dreams and desires come true in the coming years,” said Mabuza.

President Paul Kruger’s Volksraad established the Government Game Reserve during 1898. The National Parks Act was ratified before parliament on May 31, 1926. Technically the KNP’s 90th birthday is celebrated on this day, even though it is actually over 118 years old.

The first tourist visited the park by train while the first motorists entered it in 1927 for a fee of one pound. The first overnight facilities were opened in 1928 at Pretoriuskop, Satara and Skukuza.

Photos: Lowvelder Archive by courtesy of Facebook Page of Krugerpark National Park History