GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - The Wilderness section of the Garden Route National Park (GRNP) scooped the award for best entrance gate / reception of the year 2017/2018 at the glitzy Kudu Awards in Gallagher Estate, Johannesburg.
Altogether 24 208 people visited the Wilderness section in December 2018 alone. This is 4 361 more than in December 2017, when 19 847 were recorded.
According to a statement by SANParks, the park has witnessed a steady increase each year. Parks manager Dr Sandra Taljaard has attributed this to the introduction of better controls for better management.
Wilderness is the western gateway to enter the rest of the GRNP, which includes Knysna and Tsitsikamma. Forest areas that are part of Wilderness include Goudveld, Farleigh and Beervlei.
Oom Isaac, one of several workers at the entrance gate of the Ebb & Flow rest camp, was transferred when the department of water affairs and forestry transferred the indigenous forest estate in 2005 and has now been with SANParks for 13 years. "Although working in the forest as a ranger was interesting, I enjoy working at the gate, which forms part of the tourism section," he said. "Nothing beats meeting new people and learning different languages."
The park is known for its lakes system. It is a bird lover's paradise and attracts many wildlife photographers.
Activities for light adventurers include canoeing and cruising with Wilderness Safaris in the Touw and Serpentine rivers that run through the park. Day hiker numbers are on the increase because the diverse landscape of indigenous forest, the fynbos areas with wetland and the sea views are magical.
The park recently announced that four hiking trails have been accredited with Green Flag status by the Hiking Organisation of Southern Africa (Hosa). This brings the number of accredited hiking trails in the Garden Route National Park to 18.
Petrus Bewee, a ranger based at the gate of one of the most popular hiking trails close to the rest camp, the Half-Collared Kingfisher trail, said, "Visitors arrive every five minutes." According to Bewee wildlife varies from visiting reptiles and buck to hearing the Knysna Loerie and other birds singing. "It really is a blessing and so rewarding."
• Criteria for the best reception of the year for the Kudu Awards include the general impression of the gate and its grounds, reception and ablution blocks; friendliness of staff; efficiency of staff at the gate / reception; administrative work; stock control; human relations; staff appearance; service to the customers; net profit; human resources management as the percentage of turnover and sales growth including the gross profit percentage for the past year.
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