Boosting the village economy: Phindile Sobhuza-Tshaka and her husband Thabathani of Tshaka Tours. Photos: Brian Sokutu
As SANParks prepares to mark 100 years since the establishment of the Kruger National Park, the people who lived in and interacted with the landscape for tens of thousands of years are long gone.
Among them were the San, whose presence during the Stone Age survives in the park’s rich collection of rock art and artefacts, a legacy that continues to offer insight into South Africa’s deep human history.
Reflecting on Kruger’s early years, renowned environmental historian Jane Carruthers recalled a vastly different park experience from the tightly regulated reserve visitors know today.
Carruthers, author of the influential book The Kruger National Park: A Social and Political History, said tourists visiting around 1927 often arrived with little understanding of wilderness conservation.
