Where would the tourism industry in Africa be today but for the visionaries who promoted the idea of conserving its natural heritage?
Paul Kruger was derided by British colonialists for, among other things, believing the world was flat, and he was feared by local tribes he had been involved in subduing since the age of 11 at the battle of Vegkop. Whether you revered him or hated him, Paul Kruger, however, towers as a figure in conservation.
Today, 125 years ago on February 25, 1895, Kruger proclaimed one of the world’s first conservation areas on the edge of Pretoria in a bid to protect the species of the timid buck known as the Oribi which was being over-hunted.
In 1898, Kruger, who was President of the South African Republic (or Transvaal) from 1873 to 1900, proclaimed the Sabie Game Reserve to protect the animals of the Lowveld, a vision he had been driving since 1884. That reserve later formed the basis of what was to become the Kruger National Park, a national park twice the size of Yellowstone in the USA.
The first reserve he proclaimed has become the gem of Gauteng.
It is known today as Groenkloof Nature Reserve, and considerable efforts have been made since 1994 to remove alien vegetation and restock it with game. The 600-hectare reserve is five minutes’ drive from the Pretoria Gautrain station. Tourists on its hiking, cycling and 4x4 trails are quite likely to encounter giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, kudu and red hartebeest as well as many of the 120 bird species found there.
Groenkloof is most unusual in that it was preserved early enough to now provide a time capsule in the centre of a city, going back to the Stone Age. With caves going back to the Iron Age, the park is the source of high-quality water from underground fountains that made it attractive to both marauding Zulus under Mzilikazi and, later, the first white settlers in 1840, remains of whose homestead can still be seen.
Groenkloof is managed by Tshifhiwa (Cedric) Thenga (TshifhiwaThenga@Tshwane.gov.za) who is keen to work with the tourism sector to include it on the Gauteng tourism route.
A new activity that will be launched in April is a two-and-a-half-hour guided tour on e-bikes using the 5km road in the park. “Riding on a bicycle with game in Groenkloof is exhilarating,” said Bill Schaerer, one of the partners. Riding an e-bike was “better than easy” and accessible to almost anyone who had ridden a bike once upon a time in their lives, he said. We want to work through the trade and make this an experience of choice for people moving through Gauteng. (www.e-biking.co.za
