SANParks.org Forums

From Richard Gillatt's post in the Old Pictures Thread, his picture is marked Letaba 1950.

It is clear that it is the same place, similar time. However, if his picture is marked 1950, then my picture is even older than I thought.

Hello Francois,
Welcome to the Forums
I agree with you, the photo was definately not taken in 1965. I remember the entrance as in Leighvlasso's photo very well - I was a kid then and we were in Letaba just about every weekend. If not mistaken, the building straight ahead in Leigh's photo used to be the Reception building, with the petrol pumps/service station directly to your right as you entered.
The resident ellie used to hung around at the entrance gate, sometimes with flapping of ears just to make sure you don't waste time entering the camp.

I would estimate that the car on the right coming towards the camera appears to be of the late 1940's or early 50's era , the car on the left is of the mid to late 1950's era .

I had a suggestion that the car on the right is a 1941 Plymouth, which would fit well with an early 1950's date.

Was the entry gate to Letaba moved between 1950 and 1965? I may be wrong, but the 1950's road looks like it is running parallel to the river (due to the "depth" of the buildings), while the 1965 gate picture may look towards the river, the way I remember the "new" entrance. From the vegetation, there seems to be no resemblance between the two entries. That means that at some stage, the gate could have moved to its current orientation, especially since there really wasn't a "gate" in 1950 to begin with, so to speak. Any confirmations on this possible change?

I was thinking the same thing. The entrance as on Leighvasslo's photos is where the current entrance is. The road has been filled up and tarred.
There must have been another entrance in the 1950's?

Fairly old pictures - My eldest son Lower Sabie 1987


Nkuhlu


Tshokwane


and a flat tyre on the H1-2 soon after leaving Thokwane


Tshokwane 1991 (Dad, my youngest son, SIL + daughter and Mom


Between 1981 - 1991 - Grandchildren on vacation in Kruger with my parents






Driving Kruger-style

I saw this post and forwarded the link onto my folks, as my dad is motor enthusiast and I thought he may be able to help with the ID of the cars.....this is his reply......

Dad says - he agrees that the car on the right is a Plymouth. The one on the left is a Studebaker, he thinks it is a 1947 model

This coming along nicely !

I had another confirmation that the left car is a Studebaker Starliner, dating from 1947-1952. After 1952 the bodystyle was revamped. Taking everything into account, it is clear that the photo dates from around early 50's, l with a different entrance into Letaba than today. Thanks for all who have helped!

Dear Francois,

Thanks for sharing and YES, what a classic acquisition. Really great pic. Also pics by Richard Gillat and Leighvlasso are great to see again! The round huts were the so called Selby huts, named after famed American photographer, mining engineer and old Parks Board board member, Paul Selby. The square huts in the background were the so-called Knapp huts and the design proved to be very unpopular and these were discontinued.

Many thanks again!

JOEP

Joep, thanks for adding some info on the rondawels.

I always thought that a rondawel was a rondawel, and never knew before that the styles actually had names. Can you elaborate a bit more on the differences and amenities in each, and why the Knapps were not liked?

The only other place I know that had a standalone "squaredawel" as my wife calls them, (excluding of course the now modern guest houses) was (is?) in Onder Sabie. We stayed in one in 1993 on my honeymoon.

The car on the left I seem to believe is a
Vauxhall! It can in fact be traced back, with
all due respect to a number plate it reflects.

Hard to believe that even then already we
had sharkies around.

My father had a 1949 Dodge . Dodge and Plymouth had the same front bonnets , but the boots differed somewhat . I have some pics of our old Dodge somewhere and will look it up , but I think that car on the right was a Plymouth 1948 model . Certainly not 1941 - those models were of quite a different build , with the boot shaped straight down , and not sloping like the later models .

If memory serves me right, Letaba
experienced a total revamp. Can
recall seen a picture were the old
huts were demolished. Soon after
Olifants appeared on the map. Guess
this was all part of a strategy.

To this day I believe Lower Sabie can
still boast with some original huts. We
recently occupied these. - the cloned
ones.

Other than Punda Maria I don't know
of any original huts still in existence.

Dear H erectus,

This is a great topic and thanks to all for sharing. The oldest huts still in use would be the six at Balule which originate from very early 1930's. Yes, Letaba old huts were all demolished (unfortunately). Other originals still in use, indeed, Punda Maria and also Shingwedzi, although interior was modernised in 70's and 80's. Lower Sabie so called finch nests (cluster) and stables are still the old ones from late 1930's and then of course Pretoriuskop still has many of the originals from early 1930's.

Kind regards.

JOEP

Hi Joep,


Thank you for the information on this topic about old Kruger, thank you to everyone else as well for taking us down memory lane!

Do you know if the damage at Balule will cause the the huts to be rebuilt?