White Elephants Shouldn't Roam the Berg
09 Sep 2013 19:39 - 09 Sep 2013 19:42 #58440
by ghaznavid
Replied by ghaznavid on topic White Elephants Shouldn't Roam the Berg
That was one of the points in my reply, I must get to writing that sometime soon...
It it just me, or is that a major contradiction
As for the others:
- why can't a school group go up Sani Pass? Doesn't make much sense
- the reason a disabled person can't go up Sani Pass is that the bathrooms up there aren't wheelchair accessible. I know this due to having tried to make a plan to get my mother's best friend up there. She loves the Berg and has been in a wheelchair since she was 3. That is a fairly cheap and easy problem to fix vs a cable car
- Time sensitive tourists won't drive to Mnweni to start with. Also Cobham is closer to Durban - to the top of Sani Pass is 249km per Google Maps - compared to Mnweni - 266km per Google Maps.
- People with limited finances? R228 for a ticket vs roughly the same for the Sani taxi isn't it?
- Elderly people? What stops them from using Sani Pass?
intrepid wrote:
These include:
- Tour buses
It it just me, or is that a major contradiction
As for the others:
- why can't a school group go up Sani Pass? Doesn't make much sense
- the reason a disabled person can't go up Sani Pass is that the bathrooms up there aren't wheelchair accessible. I know this due to having tried to make a plan to get my mother's best friend up there. She loves the Berg and has been in a wheelchair since she was 3. That is a fairly cheap and easy problem to fix vs a cable car
- Time sensitive tourists won't drive to Mnweni to start with. Also Cobham is closer to Durban - to the top of Sani Pass is 249km per Google Maps - compared to Mnweni - 266km per Google Maps.
- People with limited finances? R228 for a ticket vs roughly the same for the Sani taxi isn't it?
- Elderly people? What stops them from using Sani Pass?
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10 Sep 2013 07:11 #58444
by Philip
Replied by Philip on topic White Elephants Shouldn't Roam the Berg
'Tour buses' - Tour buses are already catered for on Sani Pass. They park in Underberg, or at a local hotel. Tourists are then transferred into 'individually motorized gondolas', and back into their tour buses after the trip. Each 'gondola' has its own driver / guide, providing employment and supporting the local tourist industry!
'People with limited finances' - They have two options - they can walk up Sani Pass from the SA border control (3hrs up 2hrs down) - this is completely safe as they cannot get lost, and if they have a 'problem' can easily be rescued. Second option - use the local 4x4 taxis!
'Time sensitive tourists' - (whatever that means) - Several 'gondola' operators will run a half day trip - a complete travesty in my opinion, but there you are!
'Wheelchair access' - Plans are well developed for a rebuilt 'Sani Top Chalet' - now called 'Sani Mountain Lodge'. I am quite sure that wheelchair access will have been considered. I will check with the managers when I am next up there...
'School groups' - School groups are often accessing the High Berg and Lesotho via Sani Pass. As a guide I have been involved in many trips...
An additional point is that the existing Underberg / SA tourist industry is making positive contributions to the Lesotho communities at Sani Top and further afield. This adds an important 'cross-cultural' element to Sani Pass trips. This will not be the case above the Mnweni area, as there are no permanent Basotho communities anywhere nearby.
Visitors to the Sani Pass area can access some of the most stunning day hikes - for example Hodgson's Peaks, and of course Thabana Ntlenyana. Even simply walking out along the 'Twelve Apostles' is as rewarding as anywhere else. (Yes, I know we all have our favorite secret places that we will argue are more spectacular - but tourists don't know them do they?!
Sani Stone Lodge (see my posting 'Alternative Accommodation at Sani Top') can offer the unique opportunity of riding horses along the top of the Drakensberg Escarpment, and inland to isolated Basotho villages. Riding horses along the top of the Drakensberg is an experience not to be missed (if you get on with horses!). Organizing that experience anywhere else along the top of the KZN Drakensberg is logistically so complex that it is almost not worth it.
I completely agree that Sani Pass is an argument against the cable car and is exactly the point I am making in this post!
'People with limited finances' - They have two options - they can walk up Sani Pass from the SA border control (3hrs up 2hrs down) - this is completely safe as they cannot get lost, and if they have a 'problem' can easily be rescued. Second option - use the local 4x4 taxis!
'Time sensitive tourists' - (whatever that means) - Several 'gondola' operators will run a half day trip - a complete travesty in my opinion, but there you are!
'Wheelchair access' - Plans are well developed for a rebuilt 'Sani Top Chalet' - now called 'Sani Mountain Lodge'. I am quite sure that wheelchair access will have been considered. I will check with the managers when I am next up there...
'School groups' - School groups are often accessing the High Berg and Lesotho via Sani Pass. As a guide I have been involved in many trips...
An additional point is that the existing Underberg / SA tourist industry is making positive contributions to the Lesotho communities at Sani Top and further afield. This adds an important 'cross-cultural' element to Sani Pass trips. This will not be the case above the Mnweni area, as there are no permanent Basotho communities anywhere nearby.
Visitors to the Sani Pass area can access some of the most stunning day hikes - for example Hodgson's Peaks, and of course Thabana Ntlenyana. Even simply walking out along the 'Twelve Apostles' is as rewarding as anywhere else. (Yes, I know we all have our favorite secret places that we will argue are more spectacular - but tourists don't know them do they?!
Sani Stone Lodge (see my posting 'Alternative Accommodation at Sani Top') can offer the unique opportunity of riding horses along the top of the Drakensberg Escarpment, and inland to isolated Basotho villages. Riding horses along the top of the Drakensberg is an experience not to be missed (if you get on with horses!). Organizing that experience anywhere else along the top of the KZN Drakensberg is logistically so complex that it is almost not worth it.I completely agree that Sani Pass is an argument against the cable car and is exactly the point I am making in this post!
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