Photos and video: Lifetime love for Kruger becomes precious collection

The Kruger National Park celebrates its centenary this year after it was proclaimed a national park in 1926. Although this park was actually already established in 1898 as the much smaller Sabie game reserve to protect the wildlife of the Lowveld, it only later gained national park status.

For 60 years of these 100 years, the wildlife garden has been part of Joep Stevens’ life. He visited the wildlife park for the first time in 1966 as a six-year-old boy with his parents. After that, the family went on holiday in the wildlife park at least once a year. Joep sometimes went even more times if he could get into his grandmother and grandfather’s car when they took the road there.

Although he did not study nature conservation or anything along those lines, Joep also devoted almost his entire career to the game garden – a career that would lead to a fulfilled life.

With a twist to the game garden

Joep was good with numbers. That’s why he started working at Volkskas and attended after-hours classes to complete his BCom degree at Tukkies. But before long the path of life would lead him back to the wildlife park. In December 1988 he was asked to take over in the bank’s Skukuza branch. Before long, the temporary position became a permanent one and Joep moved to Skukuza.

“It was the best time of my life. It was ideal to work for a private company, but to become part of Skukuza’s community,” he recalls.

(Photo: Petronel Fourie)

When the bank wanted to transfer him back to Pretoria, he didn’t want to know anything about it. He took root in the game garden. He then went to knock on the Park Board to hear if they might have a job for him, and indeed – in July 1990, Joep’s long and happy career began, at the bottom of the ladder as tourism officer in Skukuza.

“I diligently learned from the old guard and made my way up that way. The transition years to democracy were more difficult, because many things had to change. But in 1993 I was appointed as camp manager of Skukuza, and then as tourism manager of the southern region of the game park.”

(Photo: Petronel Fourie)

When the zoo’s head of tourism retired in February 1996, Joep acted in his place, until he was appointed to the position in 1998. Joep remembers that he worked long hours and had to sacrifice a lot, but that it was worth it. He held this position for five years, until in 2003 he was asked to work in SANParks’ head office in Pretoria, so that from there he could manage tourism in all the country’s national parks. That was the end of his Skukuza days.

Major events in Skukuza years

The highlight of his wildlife park career was when he was Skukuza’s camp manager and this camp won the prize for the best camp in the wildlife park in 1993 – the first time ever.

But there were also many dramatic events. Joep says that his neighbors in the Skukuza camp, Annatjie and Manie Coetzee, were like parents to him. Manie, who was head of disaster management, would often call him and say: “Onder-Sabie is on fire!”, or “Pretoriuskop is on fire!”, or “There is a tourist in trouble, are you coming?” So Joep was exposed to many incidents.

One such incident that he will never forget is the big fire of 4 September 2002. “There were women from the surrounding communities who had an arrangement with the wildlife park to harvest cover grass for the wildlife park as well as for their communities. It was the end of winter and one of those days when there were warm downward mountain winds blowing, accompanied by high temperatures.

“Somewhere far away a wildfire started and by late afternoon the extremely strong wind drove the fire, over the tar road between Pretoriuskop and Skukuza, straight on the way to the temporary tent camp that had been created for the women for the few weeks they could harvest. The rangers on Pretoriuskop then realized the risk and four of them raced to secure the women. The terrifying firestorm arrived so quickly that everyone was overwhelmed as they tried to escape the fire. The four rangers were ambushed near the camp.

“When Mani called me late in the afternoon and said ‘we have to go save the women’ and we raced to the airport to push the helicopter out of the pilot, the disaster had already played out, without us realizing it. I had to stay behind to get hold of the doctors on Skukuza and get the infirmary at Sandrivier’s military base ready. At dusk, when the first badly burned people (some still alive!) arrived, the doctors tried to treat them. The burns were however, so serious that the helicopter pilots were requested to take them straight to the hospital.”

Some lived for a few more days, but in the end this biggest human disaster in the wildlife park’s history claimed the lives of 19 women and four rangers, remembers Joep. It was very traumatic for everyone involved.

The great flood of 7 February 2000 also stands out in Joep’s memory. “I was attending a course in Johannesburg when this happened. When they called me with the news, I weaved as fast as possible through the busy Johannesburg traffic to get home, while almost all access routes to Skukuza were affected. My house was on the banks of the Sabie River and I could see all the devastation from a distance. The water rushed through the house up to window height and swept away everything in its path. It was a disaster. Despite the enormous material loss, the Skukuza community was united and especially grateful that there was no loss of life in the game park.

Years of collecting

After losing many valuables in the flood, such as his stamp collection, books and photographs, Joep started collecting again – piece by piece of valuables related to the wildlife park. Today he has a collection of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of precious Kruger National Park items.

Over the years, Joep has picked up things in the field when they go to the game park – parts of wagons he drove there before the time of motor cars, antique road signs, you name it. Later, he started buying souvenirs online, both locally and overseas. Today he probably has the largest Kruger National Park collection in the world.

His whole house is a display case. In his cupboards and drawers, on his walls and on his bookshelves, everywhere your eye catches game garden treasures. From plates, knives and sugar spoons to ties and brooches, coffee mugs and blankets, road maps and leaflets. His bookshelves are full of books about the wildlife park; memorabilia is unpacked on his tables.

Some of his most precious collectibles include a scrapbook of Scotsman James Stevenson-Hamilton, which this pioneer started keeping in 1902, shortly after he started working in the wildlife park. He also has a Stevenson-Hamilton passport. Joep met Stevenson-Hamilton’s descendants because his two children, who were born in Skukuza in the 1930s, still visited the Kruger National Park annually, until last year. “We became friends. Both are still alive, but are already over 90 and can’t really travel that far from Scotland anymore.”

From a box he takes the first road map made of the wildlife park, and menus from the restaurant from the 1970s – a complete lunch for R1! Against one wall stand chairs from the earliest days, which were still hewn together from scaffolding wood because there was no money to buy furniture. Under the notebook in which I make notes is a heavy wooden table from Skukuza’s restaurant, which he had fixed after the flood of 2000 broke it into pieces.

On the shelf behind me is a small leather case. Joep tells that it is a case in which petrol attendants had to store their money in the days before bank cards when customers came to put in fuel. Above the bag on the wall is a poster mounted with drawings that the artistic Hilda Stevenson-Hamilton even made. Against another wall is a collage of holiday photos in the game garden from Joep’s childhood – photos that evoke precious memories. He also has a very large digital collection of wildlife garden photos.

(Photo: Petronel Fourie)

(Photo: Petronel Fourie)

Now time for research – and a book

Joep is on early pension in 2021, when he turned 60. “This has always been my plan, because I wanted to immerse myself in the zoo’s history after retirement.” He then registered a research project on tourism in the Kruger National Park with SANParks and gained access to the archives in Skukuza and Groenkloof. And now he is in his element!

His research project is progressing well and he plans to publish a book on the history of tourism in the Kruger National Park within two years. “Although there are wonderful books about the wildlife park’s history, there is not yet one that specifically documents the tourism side.”

The book will tell the stories of the communities that lived in the game park, the different political eras and how they affected the game park’s tourism, and the everyday, practical elements that tourists don’t always notice.

“For example, it is interesting to know how the camps came about, when the roads were tarred, why the accommodation was built the way it is, things like that. I am studying a century’s worth of minutes, council decisions and other documents to tell all these stories in the book,” says Joep.

(Photo: Petronel Fourie)

The road back to Lowveld

Joep is moving to White River soon, so his precious collection is looking for a new home. “I would like my collection to be accessible to the public, and also nicely preserved for future generations. I am negotiating for a Kruger National Park museum on White River.”

Over the course of 60 years, Joep has seen the wildlife park develop into the world-class destination it is today. “It was a privilege to work in the game park and make a positive contribution to its sustainability. I really enjoy the research I can do now and really look forward to living close to the game park again.”