Berg Alert 2016

This is a big call and I applaud you for making it. Thanks for the honest chat this morning as well Stephen. As mentioned to you, I take "duty of care" very seriously and everyone needs to figure out for themselves what they regard as duty. You cannot deny this and at some stage we all need to make these decisions.

Adventure Works Africa stopped running guided hikes to the Drakensberg about a year ago already and one of the main reasons was client safety. Environmental issues are fine and we can deal with those but other life-threatening situations beyond our control is a different matter. Until we have more clarity on the way our authorities want to proceed with these matters I cannot leave my business vulnerable. I know many other guiding outfits will continue and that is fine, but ask yourself how you and your business will be affected if involved in an international incident. I am not prepared to take that risk and it is upsetting because this is in my own country. I certainly look forward to see what parks and other authorities ultimately decide, and I cannot wait to return to the Berg with international clients. We have had to be creative in finding ways to make up for this lost revenue and have succeeded to some extent, but outside our borders.

When I do a trip to the Simien Mountains we do many stretches with an armed guard. This is because their government takes the safety of international visitors seriously and does not want to lose the revenue stream from that type of tourism.
When I do a trip to Mount Ararat we can climb the mountain safely without getting our heads chopped off, despite it being a full blown war zone.
There are numerous other examples and in reality none of these are as beautiful as the Drakensberg.

I look forward to the ongoing debate and hoping to be around for the upcoming stakeholder's meeting. Good luck to Stephen and the other conservation managers and stakeholders in addressing these issues. Hopefully we can all play an active role in improving the safety in our own mountains.

We have unfortunately have had to make the decision to close the Amphitheatre region to all persons, until the security situation stabilises.

Does an approximate date can be given ? the next quarter, next year, forever ?

@KBresler

Thank you for your response and your support. It is deeply concerning to hear that your business (and no doubt many others) have been affected in this way. We are looking to all stakeholders to involve themselves in providing a long term solution to this problem.

kbresler wrote:
When I do a trip to the Simien Mountains we do many stretches with an armed guard. This is because their government takes the safety of international visitors seriously and does not want to lose the revenue stream from that type of tourism.
.

Interestingly we have a sister park in Ethiopia encompassing the Simien Mountains. How does it feel having an armed guard with you?

Ranger wrote:

kbresler wrote: When I do a trip to the Simien Mountains we do many stretches with an armed guard. This is because their government takes the safety of international visitors seriously and does not want to lose the revenue stream from that type of tourism.
.

Interestingly we have a sister park in Ethiopia encompassing the Simien Mountains. How does it feel having an armed guard with you?

I have been in Simien Too, the main purpose of a Scout there is to give a job to some male guys of the muslim community which is living just in the middle of a Christian Area. Then : entries, permit, fees etc are very well managed by the Park Authority in Debark. At last there are some wild animals which can be dangerous if you camp outside the reserved places. And you know oftenly the guards have very very old rifle, for instance Enfield N°1, which is not very new you know and they don't have many cartridges for them, even no cartridges at all. Sociological and Psychological matter only I guess.
And the Simien Escarpment is not wild at all

Ranger wrote:

kbresler wrote:
When I do a trip to the Simien Mountains we do many stretches with an armed guard. This is because their government takes the safety of international visitors seriously and does not want to lose the revenue stream from that type of tourism.
.

Interestingly we have a sister park in Ethiopia encompassing the Simien Mountains. How does it feel having an armed guard with you?

I don't like it but I am happy to stick to the rules, which allows me access. And if it improves overall safety that is a massive bonus.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

HI Team,

Not sure if this has been spoken about - see the link and appreciate any comments (that are constructive and helpful) This is not an opportunity for social media barrage.

southcoastherald.co.za/140117/terror-for-berg-hikers/

Thanks

At last, some exposure on this:
www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/kzn-hikers-attacked-on-remote-drakensberg-mountain-20160506