Lowveld - April 2020

Mysterious sightings in Knysna. Exploring the Kruger
National Park. We do live in a marvellous country.
Of Otangs
and Apps
Compiled by KYM ARGO
It’s like having a game ranger in your pocket...
try the amazing KrugerExplorer App
Regular readers know how much we love a bush escape... and we’ve
just discovered the ultimate App for visitors to the Kruger National Park.
KrugerExplorer contains a massive amount of info... it’s like having your own,
private, very knowledgeable guide (with all the insider secrets guides seem
to know) in your pocket. This field guide has hundreds of details you need...
from animal profiles (did you know the civet is semi-dependent on water, so
if you want to see one you need to look near a reliable water source?) to selfdrive
routes (more than 70 of them, so you won’t hit the same dirt road twice),
new accurate and up-to-date maps of the park and so much more. There’s
info on mammals and birds, reptiles and
invertebrates, on the flora and ecozones
you’ll experience in the park. The routes
include those for camps which are
useful for overnight visitors, as well as
routes more suitable for day visitors.
With more than 400 high-res images,
and 300 000 words of content, this
App is perfect for using while in the
reserve, as well as for planning before
you leave home. It’s also marvellously
educational... so great for kids. The
App was created by Danny Broome
and Charlotte Kirke, who are from
the UK but have a love of Africa in
general and the Kruger in particular.
“We’re very conscious that part of
the wonderful experience of the
Kruger is escaping the bustle and
stresses of life - and for many people
this means being offline. Ensuring
the App works completely offline
once downloaded adds a 21st
century polish to a Kruger visit,
while not impacting the bush
escape experience,” they say. The
KrugerExplorer App is available
for mobile and tablet devices and
can be downloaded from the App
Store and Google Play. Details:
krugerexplorer.com.
30 Get It Lowveld April 2020
“Otangs” in the
Knysna forests
Possibly best known for his work
on African lions, environmentalist
and independent wildlife researcher
Gareth Patterson has spent more
than quarter of a century working on
the protection of our wildlife.
He’s author of more than 10 books...
including The Secret Elephants, a
culmination of many years of research
into the secretive Knysna elephants.
The recently released Beyond the
Secret Elephants continues this story,
but also reveals his startling discovery
of a much more mysterious being
than the elephants - a relict hominoid
known to the indigenous forest
people as the Otang.
The possible existence of relict
hominoids is gaining momentum
worldwide with ongoing research
into Bigfoot in North America, the
Yeti in the Himalayas and the Orang
Pendek in Sumatra, and eminent
conservationists and scientists -
Dr Jane Goodall, Dr George Schaller
and Prof Jeff Meldrum - have said
they’re open-minded about their
possible existence. Gareth has
heard many accounts, which he’s
documented in this new book... most
of them, he says, were spontaneous
and unprompted. Fascinating - an
exceptional natural history book
(also available as an e-book). Tracey
McDonald Publishers, R270.