SANParks slight increase in recreational activities in the Garden Route National Park (cycling)
The annual permit of R 190/annum was introduced in previous years as an introductory tariff because mountain biking in the newly formed Garden Route National Park (GRNP) was still a fairly new concept. Mountain biking stakeholders were informed that it will be increased in due course.
Normal conservation levies (for overnight accommodation)in Knysna are charged at R 26/adult per day while entrance fees to the Garden of Eden per adult is R 14/p and R 22/p at Diepwalle/Kranshoek respectively. This is for one day only.
The annual cycle permit is valid for 365 days, meaning a regular cycler may enter the park at only R1,50 per day only for 365 days if he/she wishes to do so. At the old rate it amounted to a mere R0.52/day. This is actually a very lenient tariff taking into account that bikers access the National Park as well as get an opportunity to engage in an activity inside a national park at only R 1.50 per day while other pay at least R 14 to enter the park or sections there off.
Cyclists have three options available, and our local regular cyclists are getting the most benefits of all.
Annual permits at R 550/annum i.e. R 1.50 per day.
or
Seasonal permits for the two long school holidays in Dec (1 Dec to 31 Jan) or June/July (1 June till 31 July) at R 150 for 2 months i.e. R2.50/day.
or
A daily rate of R 38/day as from 1 November that includes entry into the park as well as the opportunity to engage in a mountain bike activity inside a national park.
These tariffs were decided and agreed upon during an internal tariff structuring session in GRNP and was also based on the fact that when the cycle permits were initiated the first tariff was actually R 600/annual permit, but to introduce the concept it was decided to lower it to R 190/annum for an interim period.
The cycle tariffs will only increase as from 1 January 2015 as the annual cycle permit is valid from 1 Jan till 31 Dec each year.
The purpose of the annual cycling permits is to give our local regular cyclists the benefit of access to the park without paying the normal R 38/day tariff.
The seasonal tariffs are designed to cater for our holiday visitors who are also eager mountain bikers but who will also find it difficult to pay R 38/day/p/person if they want to cycle several times during their holiday in the park.
Cyclists also get access to several mountain bike routes they can choose from and are not limited to only one route.
For more information, please contact Nandi Mgwadlamba, 078 702 9663
