I do believe however that over the centuries, individuals such as this could have been seen as added proof to ancient peoples that such a creature could exist.

I also find that many creatures that were ethnoknown by local peoples before being catalogued by science were often described in fantastic ways, often being attributed magical powers, exaggerated features, or said to be a chimera of other common animals. Yes, I am skeptical of this “Kaaiman”, however I am wary to write off the possibility of a new, undiscovered animal based on unlikely descriptions simply because it has been shown before that sometimes there is a real animal behind the stories or myths. (although maybe not as spectacular an animal as claimed).

One last thing that I have to say here is that I find the scarcity of sightings to be curious. From what I can see in the article, this creature was seen 15 years ago, and 20 years before that. This is an extremely low amount of spaced out sightings for even a cryptid, and I don’t quite know what to make of this. Could this creature have wandered here from somewhere else on these occasions, and the area where the sightings occurred is not its normal range? Or maybe it is near extinction? Could this just mean that the few witnesses are seeing things or are having a laugh? Whatever the reason, the rarity of sightings is interesting to me.

I’ve known many MODERN PEOPLE who believe in — and FEAR — what we call mermaids. I know they have names for these beings in their native tongues, but when we discuss them, they call them mermaids so that I might understand. I used to live near a body of water in Florida my foreign friends would never walk near because of the mermaids they believed lived there. I respected their fears of something I accepted to be of supernatural origin, but it didn’t prevent me from spending time by that waterway. I never thought their belief was some cryptid, but it did seem like a supernatural creature that could take on physical form, from their folklore. I know many crypto-fans hate that idea because they can never be proven “real” in the scientific sense. However, such fantastic creatures do have a place in our mysterious world. And, waterways are almost universally sacred and magical places, so it is of no surprise to hear about fantastical creatures calling these places home.

About the cell phone issue: I’ve lived in all types of places — from New York City to bush Alaska on the Yukon River. And, I’ll tell you, when I’m in the market for a cell phone, one of the things I look for is that it NOT have a camera in it. Why? Because some of the camera technology interferes with cell phone reception. When I’m in need of rescue somewhere in the bush country, it’s unlikely I would be in cell phone range — but even less likely if I use a camera phone — so I choose NOT to have a camera phone. I’ve encountered THOUSANDS of animals in the wild — few of which I have photos of. I hope you believe me that bears, moose, caribou, and wolves are real, even though I can’t prove it with a camera phone.
Keep the great stories coming! I love this stuff!

I’m not saying this sighting PROVES anything, but it is still interesting to read about these things. We don’t know diddly-squat about our oceans or large portions of this world.

Its also possible the white woman with red eyes splashing around could have been one of the hippie chicks from cape town who was ‘gerook’. Hence the red eyes. Perhaps the wailing was her embarresed attempt to get away from the watching suurbraak family - calling the kids and all.

As for the Kaaiman, there are plenty of secrets and only naivity or extreme cynisim would immediately dismiss at least a fragment of possibly that more exists than meets the ‘common knowledge’ of the first world.

I also live close to Suurbraak and know the village relatively well. My friend can speak the local ‘taal’ and would fit in. It’s worthy of at least a small photo documentary. So deepone, if u going to take a splash (though diving gear is hardly needed in the river) let me know and we can meet there and have a look and chat to the family??

Beats watching tv about guys being charming while they’re dodging bullets.

I live fairly close, am a keen diver, reckon I’ll give this a looky.

Also, no crocs in the Suurbrak, and we do have cell phones, even in townships
Anyone interested in S.A myths check out some of Credo Mutwa’s writings (though unfortunately Icke got his hooks into Credo), specifically his book “Indaba My Children”, chock full of weird creatures.

Most of the South African cultures have legends of strange animals like this, some even wierder such as the Tokoloshe, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikoloshe, http://www.vanhunks.com/tokoloshe1.html, a small type of evil and very ugly changeling that enters houses and terrorises the people. A lot of murders (last one was 2 years ago that I know of) etc have been blamed on this little fellow, traditional cultures place thier beds on bricks or cans to lift their beds so that he cannot get hold of them while they are sleeping. They won’t even speak his name as this may invite him to visit them.

Tales of large white snakes (30m+ in length) in most rivers, river dieties that entice people into water (similar to European legends) and beings that live behind waterfalls abound and are kept very much alive in rural areas by witch doctors (not Sangomas) to help keep people in line with thier beliefs and doctrines. Another one is hyenas that follow you and then turn into mist or lightning, depending on the area, when sighted (even white farmers have reported these animals). Some Venda believe in an enormous white crocodile that they need to sacrifice virgins to in a sacred lake. A lot of white farmers also talk about and believe in a werewolf-type creature today that their ancestors saw and hunted. Unicorns also have a large following and still get reported today.

Ape (primate) like creatures have also been reported and as early as the late seventies a lot of white farmers in the north of South Africa near Zimabawe reported a large gorilla type primate. This report was well documented with photos of tracks and reports of many farmers, hunters and farm workers. It was eventually decided that the creature was a gorilla due to similar traits and footprints. (I have the article but it is in Afrikaans and will have to be translated to use on this site.)

Africa and South Africa is alive with stories of strange creatures and beings; the Tokoloshe is still the best as far as South African crypto’s go. In traditional Zulu (and most black South African) cultural beliefs, there are many stories of extra-terrestrials that go back hundreds, if not thousands of years. The Bushman tribes believe in and have painted a lot of crypto-type animals and extra-terrestrials in Southern Africa.