The Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park

• This extraordinarily diverse World Heritage Site is located on the eastern coast of South Africa, in KwaZulu-Natal Province, south of Swaziland and Mozambique. This wilderness comprises 275 000 ha and is the 3rd largest wildlife sanctuary in southern Africa.

Hippos, Lake St Lucia © Satour

Leatherback Turtle © Satour

Sandy Beach, Sodwana Bay © Satour

• The Park consists of 5 fragile eco-systems:
  1. The lake region, comprising two types of coastal lake systems i.e.
     • Five rivers supply the estuarine-linked lakes of St Lucia and Kosi, the largest estuarine body of water in southern Africa. The water in Lake St Lucia is predominantly saline.
     • Marshes and mangroves around the fresh water lakes of Sibaya, Bhaganzi and Ngoboreleni are usually inundated with slow-flowing water after rains.
  2. A marine conservation area extending 5 km out to sea, long sandy beaches are interspersed with rocky reefs. The forested coastal dunes are found at the eastern edge of the coastal plain. Many of the large dunes exceed 150 m in height – the highest reaching 183 m; these are the highest dunes of their kind in the world.
  3. A wilderness area known as Mfabeni and Tewati;
  4. The reed and papyrus wetland of the Mkuze swamps in the north;
  5. The Western Shores, a fossil shoreline more than 25000 years old abounding with fossils of its earlier marine life.
      
• The Park receives approximately 1 million visitors annually and is especially popular with those who love the coast.
   
• The Park is renowned for superlative natural spectacles:
  • The night-time nesting and subsequent hatching of Leatherback and Loggerhead turtles;
  • The migration of whales, dolphins and whale sharks;
  • Concentrated displays of feeding flamingos of up to 50 000 birds, pelicans, waders and other waterfowl, African fish eagles, with a total of 521 bird species;
  • Nesting sites of the Nile crocodile.
     
• Flora and Fauna:
  Varied tropical and temperate forms of animal and plant life exist in the Park.
  • Abundant land mammals thrive here, ranging from the wetland species such as the Cape clawless otter and water mongoose plus an abundance of Nile crocodiles and hippos, to buffalo, black and white rhino, brown hyena, leopard, nyala, waterbuck, samango and vervet monkeys and side-striped jackals;
  • Smaller life forms include fiddler crabs in the mangrove forests, tree-climbing mudskippers and 36 species of amphibians, lesser numbers of hinged terrapins and water monitor lizards;
  • Over 420 bird species inhabiting forest, shoreline, the estuaries, the islands of Lake St Lucia and marshlands, including white pelicans, spoonbills, red-winged pratincoles, trumpeter hornbills, black oystercatchers, sandpipers, cormorants, plovers, hadeda ibis and occasionally, the rare Knysna Lourie or the Narina trogon;
  • The coral-inhabited reefs of the Park are significant in terms of their conservation and scientific value. The fresh water fish fauna comprises 55 species including 6 internationally threatened and 16 nationally-threatened species and the largest Zambezi Shark (Carcharhinus leucas). Marine mammals also include humpback, minke, southern right and sperm whales cruising the depths accompanied by 6 species of dolphins including bottle-nosed, Fraser’s and spotted dolphins plus 3 species of marine turtle;
  • Reptiles include snakes such as pythons and gaboon adders, lizards and chameleons;
  • A myriad of insects live in the Park such as dung beetles, almost 200 butterfly species and over 50 species of dragonflies;
  • An extraordinary variety of trees include more than 140 species in the forests along the western shores alone – canopies of marula, kei-apple, tamboti and Natal mahogany.
     
• Park Activities:
  • Game-viewing from vehicles on a network of dirt roads
  • Bird-watching mecca
  • Turtle-viewing
  • Surf angling
  • Guided day walks and dozens of wilderness hiking trails ranging from 1 km strolls to sojourns lasting several days – possibly the most popular is the 3-day Lake St Lucia Wilderness Trail
  • Religious activities i.e. mass baptisms
  • Boat trips on the lake and estuary
  • Scuba diving to view the wealth of tropical fish and the lovely offshore coral reefs, controlled via diving concessions
  • Snorkelling and spear-fishing
  • Deep sea fishing charters from Sodwana Bay - splendid catches of sailfish, blue and black marlin, tuna and other game fish are almost routine amongst the deep-sea fishing community
     
• Accommodation:
  • A range of accommodation is available throughout the Park in concentrated areas only in order to retain the pristine nature of the Park, ranging from camp and caravan sites to serviced log cabins and huts.

Luxury Chalet, Nibela Lodge, Lake St Lucia © CA Swanepoel	Raised Walkways between Chalets © Satour
Nibela Lodge swimming pool © CA Swanepoel	Flamingos - Lake St Lucia © Satour

• The luxury Nibela Lake Lodge is located near False Bay and guests are transferred by boat to the lodge. Each chalet has its own private viewing deck and leads to the main lodge by spectacular raised wooden walkways.

• Other Information:
  
  The first evidence of human occupation of the Park dates from the Early Stone Age. There is evidence that people of Middle and Late Stone Age cultures inhabited the Maputaland area since the last Interglacial and probably for as long as 1.1 million years. Shell middens on the coast testify to extensive use of colonies of black mussels (Perna perna) as a food source. It is believed that these early agriculturists occupied sites along the coastline as early as 1600 years ago and cut their fields and lived in the coastal forest.
  
  Approximately one-third of the flora of KwaZulu-Natal Province and of South Africa as a whole may be found in the Park, including some rare species occurring nowhere else in the country. The Park vegetation is diverse – a mosaic of forest, thickets, woodlands, grasslands and wetland types, plus over ¾ of the total marine vegetation of the KwaZulu-Natal coastline.
  
  The climate is subtropical with warm, moist summers and mild dry winters. The Aghulas current exerts a warming influence. Rainfall varies in the Park, falling during the summer months of November to March. A number of seasonal river systems and streams exist in the Park, the rivers flowing during the wet summer months and are reduced to isolated pools and subterranean seepage through bed sediments in winter.
   
• KOKANYA TOURS arranges:
  • guided Park tours including boat trips
  • self-drive vehicle rental including 4X4’s
  • accommodation and
  • scuba dives and deep sea fishing trips.
• Please Contact Us for further details.