A Cameo from the Past

"A Cameo From The Past by Pienaar is a large format, 750 page history of the Kruger National Park area. From pre-historic archeology through the stone age, the earliest days of black people moving in from the northeast, this area has been a rich source of wildlife, gold, and other natural resources that subsequent explorers, including mainly Portuguese, Dutch, and English, would covet, hunt, mine, and war over. This book is filled with photographs of settlers, miners, leaders, invaders, artifacts, maps, landscapes from Escarpment through the Lowveld, from the 1800's until present. The history is written in a very interesting, readable way that will grab the enthusiastic attention of historians, archeologists, geologists, travelers, naturalists, conservationists, and anyone interested in digging into the history of South Africa and Kruger National Park. The park was named for the President of South Africa who had been an avid hunter but in the 1880's became concerned that the amazing wild species of the Lowveld were being hunted nearly to extinction. It took many years of debate among the governing bodies to decide to set aside this precious land and preserve it from hunters so the animal species could roam naturally and repopulate their homeland. There are many benefactors who gave land, support, and work to make this beautiful park the Conservation Center it is today, preserving these species and the land for many future generations to enjoy. Their stories are told in detail in this excellent book. The book comes with several large maps in a folder at back." ~Bonnie Neely, Real Travel Adventures