New zip line for Garden Route

A request for proposals (RFP) was issued by SA National Parks (SANParks) to all interested bidders for the proposed Kranshoek zip line project, reports the Knysna-Plett Herald.

Public advertisements were published on November 3, 2016, while a due diligence site visit was held on November 17.

The deadline for bids was January 13. Only one bid was received and now the Garden Route National Park (GRNP) will soon be a zip line richer, as plans to erect the adventure tourist attraction in the park near Knysna and Plettenberg are in progress.

According to SA Forest Adventures, the company that will be operating the attraction, the zip line will offer guests an incredible experience with some of the slides up to 800m per cable and almost 300m from the ground. The total tour will be about 3.4km and will take two hours to complete, said company owner Clinton Lerm.

Although the specs of the attractions have been lined out by Lerm, approval from SANParks is still pending. “Once the final go-ahead has been given, we will start with construction,” he said.

According to SANParks communications manager Nandi Mgwadlamba, the process is still under way, and the matter has been escalated to SANParks’ national office.

“The document detailing the RFP was downloadable from the SANParks website. Advertisements were also published to ensure the message spread out as widely as possible. In terms of infrastructure, the identified site is accessible via a gravel road that is about 3km from the N2,” said Mgwadlamba.

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Bidders were also required to adhere to an operational environmental management plan of working within the forest location, where particular caution is taken into consideration to ensure that there is limited or no impact on the environment.

“The Garden Route National Park’s slogan ‘Adventure is in our Nature’ is a pun with various intended meanings, among them a description of the primary target audience for the park. Visitors head to the Garden Route for an adventure, according to a market-leading company in destination management, Dragonfly Africa.

“For sport lovers and adrenalin junkies, the Garden Route offers a wide selection of activities ranging from gentle and moderate to fast-paced and extreme, so the development of ecotourism products such as the zip line will keep visitors coming to the Garden Route,” explained Mgwadlamba.

Between April 1, 2016, and January 24, 2017, the GRNP recorded a total of 391 388 visitors compared with the same period the previous year (335 388).

“This is a 16.7% increase. This figure is of visitors to Wilderness, Knysna and Tsitsikamma.

“Development of products and adding quality will enhance the experience our visitors can have in nature in a fun-filled way.”

– Caxton News Service

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