Media
Media
The Mata Mata Tourist Access Facility (Port of entry) between South Africa and Namibia within the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (TFP) was officially opened on Friday by the President's of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.
Presidents Thabo Mbeki, Festus Mogae of Botswana and Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia opened the access facility which will enable tourists to travel between the three countries via shorter routes more easily.
The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, where the new access facility has been built, incorporates the Gemsbok National Park in Botswana and the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa.
'Kgalagadi' is derived from the San language and means "Place of Thirst". It is a popular tourist destination because of its 4 x 4 wilderness trails.
The Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa was proclaimed in 1931 mainly to protect migratory game, especially the gemsbok.
The Kgalagadi park is situated approximately 250km from Upington in the far northern Cape and is about 904 km from Johannesburg.
On 16 October the Ministers of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and Home Affairs will open the Sendelingsdrift Tourist Access Facility and launch the pontoon, a floating platform, that tourists will use to cross the Orange River.
This will form the international border between South Africa and Namibia within the Ai/Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.
The opening of the Mata Mata and Sendelingsdrift Tourist Access Facilities are key to the strategy for desert tourism which explores the natural linkage between Kgalagadi and the Ai/Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier parks, South Africa's Augrabies Falls National Park and the soon to be declared Sperregebiet National Park in Namibia.
The Kgalagadi park comprises of an area of over 3.6 million hectares which is one of very few conservation areas of this magnitude left in the world.
There are six different camps, three traditional rest camps and three wilderness camps.
The three oldest rest camps are Twee Riviere (Two Rivers) close to the entrance, Nossob, next to the Nossob River and Mata Mata next to the Namibian border. Twee Rivieren is the largest camp and also the administrative headquarters.
For tourists, electricity and cell phone reception in these areas are available 24 hours. Luxury accommodation is available at Twee Rivieren.
Last year government announced a bold plan to develop the infrastructure at Kgalagadi with a R395 million investment in the lead up to the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
The new port of entry will also see the region benefiting from the world cup by showcasing its unique eco-tourism products and thus foster regional socio-economic development.
It is anticipated that thousands of visitors would visit the country for the world-famous soccer tournament.
The rollout of infrastructure will include the building and upgrading of accommodation as well as the construction of roads in the park.
The park was identified as a priority for implementation within the first phase of the Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) 2010 strategy, which is an official Southern African Development Community (SADC) initiative.
Source:allafrica.com
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