FRONTIER NEWS

Addo staff run Alexandria Trail Run side-by-side

By Fayroush Ludick

Penny Shiloane and Katlego Poss, Field Rangers in action side-by-side, as they were throughout the race Penny Shiloane and Katlego Poss, Field Rangers, proudly showing off their medals

Addo Elephant National Park colleagues, Katlego Poss and Penny Shiloane participated and excelled in the annual Alexandria Trail Run which took place in the Woody Cape section of the park on 11 September.

Kick off for their 14km race of the event was at 07h00 and they took one hour and 34 minutes to finish. They placed sixth and seventh respectively. Section Ranger, Zelna Breytenbach, says they only entered the race about a week earlier, and while they were initially only going to run the 8km distance, they decided to upgrade to the 14km on the morning of the race.

Breytenbach says their team is very proud of Penny and Katlego for doing so well in their first race. “They are good friends and often go for training runs together when not on shift. They even ran side-by-side along the entire race and were a great source of support to one another.”

Race organiser, Sheena O’Keeffe, says it was a spectacular day at Woody Cape. “What a privilege to spend time out there with like-minded people. Everyone was so happy to be out and about. We had 151 runners in total, 150 finishers and only one who did not finish. We even had five new course records!”

The Alexandria Trail Run has various distances. There is an eight, 14, 39 and the new 52km Ultra Trail Run. “It is one of South Africa’s most spectacular coastal trails as it traverses dense dune forest to the wide expanses of the Alexandria dune field. It provides an unforgettable trail running experience and is a bucket list event for many serious trail runners,” says Sheena.

She continues, “The Park is looking superb, nice and green! Evidence of care and maintenance is everywhere and the rangers were so helpful. It was a pleasure to be there. Once again, there were a number of people who had never visited this section of the park before, so we were happy to share the beauty with them.”

With a year to train, who knows, perhaps Penny and Katlego may feel confident enough to tackle the 39km or even the 52km event next year. They could even take on the more gruelling 44km Addo Elephant Trail Run as well.

Karoo Junior Ranger programme still in full swing

By Fayroush Ludick

Socio-Economic Transformation Officer, Jan Jacobs, out in the field with Karoo National Park’s latest group of Junior Rangers. One Saturday per month these youngsters spend time in the park going over the course material

One Saturday per month, a group of 12 learners eagerly make their way to Karoo National Park, where they get to focus on a special learning area for five hours. These seven girls and five boys make up the latest group of the Park’s Junior Ranger programme.

The Grade 7 and 8 learners are from local schools in Beaufort West, namely John D Crawford Primary School and Hoërskool Sentraal. They are just about finishing off their first year of the threeyear programme, during which time they would have covered a myriad of topics including ants, plant founders, Nama Karoo families, birding and indigenous and exotic plants. Other course material still to covered includes medicinal plants, monitoring of animals, invasive plant species and animal identification through tracks and droppings.

The aspiring conservationists spend their time spent on both theoretical as well as practical work in the field to go through the SANParks course material. No prizes for guessing which of the two the group prefers. The programme is headed up by the park’s Socio-Economic Transformation Department in the form of Rosemary Scheepers and Jan Jacobs. They are also ably assisted by the local branch of the SANParks Honorary Rangers who transfer their skills and knowledge to the youngsters, as well as external experts in their fields.

Every three years a new group of learners who show a keen interest in the programme and conservation in general, after it was promoted at various schools around the park, are chosen to participate. The programme was first started in the park in 2011 by former SET Officer, Esna van Zyl, and the first intake of 13 learners graduated in 2016.

Even if these learners never choose to follow a career in conservation, the knowledge about and love for the environment they receive during this time will hopefully contribute to them being able to care for it better and pass on what they’ve learnt to others.

Miss Tourism South Africa promotes SANParks

By Fayroush Ludick

Asande with some of the learners who participated in Wilderness National Park’s World Way Day activities. Ms Tourism SA, Ms Asande Mchunu thoroughly enjoyed her experience in Addo!

Ms Tourism SA, Ms Asande Mchunu with learner who participated is ticking off the national parks she’s visiting one-by-one. The modelling school teacher from Gqeberha, Port Elizabeth, was crowned in May and has been working with the Frontier and Garden Route Regions’ Marketing Officer, Yoliswa Matwa, as a local SANParks ambassador.

Over the past few months she’s not only visited and promoted Addo Elephant, Mountain Zebra and Wilderness National parks, but also worked closely with the Socio-Economic Transformation Departments on environmental calendar days.

Asande was a motivational speaker at Youth Day celebrations in the Bersheba community near Addo in June, encouraging the youth in attendance to be protectors of the environment. She also participated in Wilderness National Park’s World Water Day campaign. Also addressing the youth, she emphasised the importance of saving water and participated in water games which were not only fun, but educational in that it taught the participants about the species that live in and depend on water for their survival.

Asande says she absolutely loves travelling, so the title of Miss Tourism South Africa fits her like a glove. “I’ve always believed one should explore their country and culture first before going abroad.” While she has many titles under her belt, she says with this one her task is to find ways to promote the country’s top tourism sites, which she says includes a visit to all the national parks over the period of her reign. “I get to experience all that the parks have to offer from accommodation, activities, food, animals and so on, then I share my experiences on social media. If I have ever seen magic, it has been in Africa,” Asande says.

“When I was at Addo, for example, I got to meet the staff, which was one of my favourite parts of the visit. They are all so warm and vibrant. It felt as if I had known them forever. The rangers and tour guides made the experience and game drives so pleasant and exciting,” she raved.

She is mindful that many South African citizens are unaware of the destinations on their doorstep and that COVID-19 has halted many visits from overseas. “Some of our people in surrounding areas of the parks have never visited the parks and we need them now more than ever since we can’t fully rely on international tourists.”

Mchunu is a past winner of Miss Teen Port Elizabeth (2015) and Miss Teen Commonwealth SA (2016). She will be representing South Africa in Miss World Tourism 2021 in Dubai at the end of October.