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Alf Roberts
One such reminder is on the Crocodile River, and is known to be Alf Roberts' trade store. Today its site is marked by a couple of mounds and...
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De Laportes Windmill
De Laporte's Windmill is situated approximately 7 kilometres from Skukuza on the Naphe Road to Pretoriuskop. It too, (perhaps surprisingly) ...
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Dukes Windmill
Perhaps as an acknowledgement of the importance of water, Duke's windmill, was also named after one of Kruger National Park's earliest range...
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Early Stone Age
Using clues left behind over the millennia, we can trace our history in southern Africa from the very beginnings of human development, some ...
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Engelhard Dam
The Engelhard Dam is a large concrete weir in the Letaba River, east of the Letaba Restcamp, and is named for an American millionaire busine...
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Game Conservation History
In the 19th century, it was assumed that blacks were the exterminators of wildlife in the Transvaal. This was a curious assumption as visito...
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Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park
The Kruger National Park is the largest game reserve in South Africa. It is roughly the same size as Israel or Wales, and covers some 20,000...
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Harold Trollope
Malelane Restcamp has a hut named for Harold Trollope, a big game hunter and one of the original owners of the Camelthorn Reserve, who was a...
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Harry Wolhuter
One of Kruger Park's most famous stories is the 1904 saga of Harry Wolhuter (one of the Park's first rangers). Wolhuter was riding on horseb...
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Iron Age
The next period of pre-history is the Iron Age, the name derived from the fact that the people of this era developed the ability to make wea...
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James Stevenson-Hamilton
James Stevenson-Hamilton (October 2 1867 - December 10 1957) born in Scotland was the eldest of nine children. He married Hilda Cholmondeley...
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JH Orpen
JH Orpen, a surveyor and member of the National Parks Board helped sponsor boreholes for the park. His wife Eileen bought up seven farms imm...
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Joao Albasini
Albasini was born 1 May 1813, in Lisbon, Portugal. He came to Lourenço Marques in 1831 and became a slave trader and Elephant hunter. The r...
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Joe Ludorf
Plaques were clearly a popular means of commemoration, as can be attested by the Joe Ludorf plaque (at Napi Kop). Ludorf was a staunch natio...
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Kruger Memorial
Naturally, Paul Kruger is, himself, memorialised at the Park, both with the Kruger Monument (at the Kruger Gate), and the Kruger memorial ta...
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Kruger Park History - Forefathers of Kruger
An overview of some of Kruger National Park's forefathers including Paul Kruger who first proclaimed the National Park while he was presiden...
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Kruger Park Proclamation
The First World War delayed further progress on this matter but ironically, an antagonist initiated the first move. In March 1916, SH Coetze...
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Late Stone Age
During the Later Stone Age, from about 40,000 years ago, a wide range of bone and wooden tools was increasingly in use and plants were used...
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Leonard Henry Ledeboer
Another place of recent historical interest is Ranger Ledeboer's quarters. Leonard Henry Ledeboer came from Holland as a young man in 1888. ...
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Makahane
A completely different way of life is represented by the ruins of Makahane, northeast of Punda Maria, next to the Levuvhu River, and the dwe...
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Makuleke Community Land Claims
Land claims, and the Makuleke (a Tsonga speaking tribe): In 1912 several Makuleke villages in the northern part of Singwidzi Game Reserve, (...
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Masorini
This site is situated some 11km from the Phalaborwa Gate, on the road to Letaba. As the letters PI-NE appear on the trigonometric beacon, it...
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Middle Stone Age
The Stone Age spans a lengthy period - from about 2 million years ago, to 1 800 years ago, and gets its name from the use made of simple sto...
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Mine Workers
With the help of the government's taxes, the 'runners' and many of the chiefs, WNLA managed to set up a more efficient system of recruiting...
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Modernisation of Kruger Park
In 1991, Robbie Robinson became Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the South African National Parks Board. Robinson began the transition of th...
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Prospectors Graves
Skukuza Restcamp is also home to some Prospector's graves. Many of the graves from the gold rush days are unnamed. Most face east to west bu...
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Rabelais Gate
The Original hut at Rabelais' gate is still preserved. This was the original entrance gate to the central region, on to the old Orpen road t...
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Rock Art
The age of rock art has been determined by using the radiocarbon method to date charcoal (carbon) from the layers from which painted and eng...
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Sardellis Store
Sardelli's store is another such ruin. Sardelli was a trader who ran a shack in the Lebombo near the Zenga-Zenga Mountain. He brewed and sol...
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Sir Percy FitzPatrick
Percy FitzPatrick was born in King William's Town 24 July 1862 (and died at Amanzi (Uitenhage) 24 January 1931). He was the eldest son of Ja...
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Stols Nek
An early family to be associated with the area were the Stols'. They were famous hunters and wagon makers from the White River area, during ...
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Struben Cottage
The historical Struben Family Cottage in Skukuza is named for the Struben brothers, Fred and Harry. They arrived in South Africa from German...
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The Future
What is the next step for the new SANParks? The Former Chief Executive, Mr Mavuso Msimang: “...our corporate plan, which was developed and...
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Thomas Hart
The somewhat rough and ready times of the Trade Route, are also remembered at Thomas Hart's grave. Hart was a 'stationmaster' on trade route...
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Thulamela
At sites such as Thulamela, in the north of the Park, evidence of this bustling trade still exists in the form of glass beads, Chinese porce...
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Transvaal Republic
De Cuiper was just the first of a long line of “modern” visitors to the area, but it was from other quarters that most of the new visito...
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Von Wielligh Baobab
There is an historical Baobab tree near the confluence of the Olifants and Letaba Rivers. The Von Wielligh Baobab tree can be found about 8k...
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W.A. Campbell
An example of this is Council member W.A. Campbell, who once owned the Mala Mala farm on the Game Reserve border. He donated an amount of...
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William Lloyd
Another casualty of the times was William Lloyd, Ranger at Satara in 1920. Satara was so remote in those days it could only be reached on fo...
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