Solutions for the Amphitheatre

Two details which need to be considered. If only climbing Sentinel then one does not enter KZN and that permit will not be required so that checking of permit will need to be done in KZN territory. If going overnight with the intention of travelling at night then is it necessary to pay the camping fees?

Hi Des

Once you ascend the Sentinel peak you are in KZN and thus entrance fees would need to be paid. Remember that part of your fee covers you for mountain rescue which most climbers would consider very useful and favourable.

In terms of hiking vs overnighting, it is an honesty based system and so if you will only be hiking through (day or night) and not overnighting then only hiking fees would apply.

Hope this helps!

Hello Ranger

A lot of the posts on this forum have all come down to the same thing:
1. Only KZN covers the costs of rescue (so I am happy to pay KZN for this)
2. There are multiple land owners: KZN, Free State, the Mnweni and Lesotho at least

Now, if I do a speed GT, 90% of my time is spent inside Lesotho. I thus feel that the land use portion of my fee should go to Lesotho and not to KZN, but still want to be covered for a rescue should the need arise.

Is there a way we can better allocate the fees paid to the correct parties?
If not, is there maybe a way we can come up with a reduced fee that covers the rescue portion but not the land use fee?

Hi AndrewP

It seems like you want to have your cake and eat it! Remember that World Heritage Site (ie EKZNW and Sehlabathebe) entry fees pay for the upkeep of paths, deployment of staff for patrols etc as well as for Mountain Rescue. The cost of managing the World Heritage Site is immense, and despite it being a site of global significance only South Africa is funding its management costs at present. When a person does the GT, an honesty system applies and payment upon exit is requested only for the nights spent in the WHS. I think the cost of four nights (those typically spent in the WHS) paid for on the "normal" GTroute @ R60 pppn is not unreasonable, considering you are technically covered for rescue throughout the entire route. No one is stopping you from paying Lesotho (and indeed they should receive something for people traversing their land) but I am unaware of any authority to pay this over to. This will of course change in due course as their tourism infrastructure grows. It would be ideal if those communities closest to the GT route received the funding, as this might encourage greater care for hikers traversing those areas.

Hope this helps.

Hello Ranger

Many thanks, you are partially right.

I live in Johannesburg, so the only areas I can visit in a normal weekend are Free State, Mnweni, Royal Natal, Didema and Monks Cowl. RN and Monks Cowl just do not lend themselves to 100km in a weekend. Didema has not maintained its contour path in 20 years.

So, I run in Free State, Mnweni and Lesotho. I justifiably feel I should pay those landowners.

And, lets be honest. Your job is an uphill battle without co operation from them. And they will never help preserve the berg if they get no money from it. Paying them does not guarantee they will help of course, but it is surely a critical step in the process.

One thing that would also help. You mention an honesty system. Can you please tell us how to make this payment for instances where I either get to the finish after hours or for times when I do not go near an office. Maybe post it as a new thread that can be permanently displayed at a prominent spot on this website so that people can access it easily

What about a third party paying and receipt function (maybe even on VE?), with the relevant monies being transferred to the relevant recipients?

I went out of my way to pay KZN Wildlife for the last GT I did and will do so again if need be. I am not invincible and realize that anything can happen on the mountains and being covered for rescue is essential. KZN Wildlife are the dominant authorities at this stage and should be supported in every way!! The Wildlife payment slip will go along way especially when encountering Lesotho Army patrols or police which I expect to happen more so in the future. Never mind the extremely important conservation work they do, it makes common sense to be on the side of the law!!!

What would be awesome is if we could book overnight permits online. E.g. when Hobbit and myself did the Leslies Pass to Cathkin Mountain Pass trip last year, we had to race down the Shada Ridge to reach the car park by 3:56PM, just before they closed. We could only get to Injisuthi late on Friday, so we phoned the camp and got permission to pay on Sunday. Online bookings already exist for almost everything else, surely it would be easy to add overnight hiking permits.

Hi Ghazndavid

I have escalated your request to our Ecotourism Head. We have discussed this before with them and I believe they are looking into it.

If something happens in the mountains and you need to be rescued, no one is going to check whether you have paid your fees. We (MCSA SAR or Mountain Club of South Africa, Search and Rescue) will rescue you regardless. We only need to know if you belong to a medical aid or not.