Our journey on the east coast of South Africa continued with our arrival in St Lucia (not to be confused with the Caribbean St Lucia!). We spent several days here enjoying the scenery and animal life. The east coast of South Africa borders the Indian Ocean so this area is quite different to Cape Town and the Garden Route. iSimangaliso Wetland Park, the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in Africa, is located just north of St. Lucia. The park is a sanctuary for hippos and crocodiles, and there were warnings all over town to beware of hippos at night. Thankfully we didn’t get to see a hippo walking through town!
THE BEST OF ST LUCIA, SOUTH AFRICA, WITH KIDS
CRUISE THE WATERWAYS LOOKING FOR CROCODILES AND HIPPOS
We took a two hour boat ride with Advantage Cruises on St Lucia Lake. There are several trips throughout the day but we would recommend the 4pm cruise as you get to watch the sunset over the water as you return to the dock. We went on their smaller boat, Fannas, which seats 40 people on a single deck. Our cruise only had about 15 people on it so there was plenty of space. We saw crocodiles basking in the sun, fish eagles soaring overhead and many different pods of hippos.
We spent about twenty minutes with one large pod of hippos including several young calves, some on the banks of the river in the mud, and others in the water. A fantastic experience as we were only a few metres from these huge beasts! Hippos kill more people in Africa than any other animal. They are very territorial, and despite being herbivores, when they come across a person in their space on water or land, it usually ends badly for the human.
FEEDING TIME AT THE CROCODILE CENTRE
Our visit to St Lucia happened to be at the weekend so we visited the Crocodile Centre for the afternoon feeding. Every Saturday at 3pm the crocodiles are fed along with an informative talk by the rangers. Firstly the adult crocodiles were fed with large dead chickens. Next it was the turn of the juveniles, a true feeding frenzy as they all tried to get hold of a chicken. Later, we also got to hold the baby crocodiles. Flynn might have a future in crocodile wrestling…!
Crocodiles are pretty inactive apart from at feeding time so this is definitely something to do on a Saturday afternoon. They are only fed once a week.
GO ON SAFARI AT NEARBY HLUHLUWE-IMFOLOZI GAME PARK
A highlight of our time in St Lucia was our day safari to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Park with Euro-Zulu. We were picked up at 5am in a safari truck for the one hour long drive to the park. Being on safari means getting up early as this is the best time to see the animals. Even before we were through the entrance gates to the park we had encountered a herd of elephants. What a great start to the day.
Things just got better and better. As soon as we entered the park we saw yet more elephants and a giraffe kill being feasted upon by vultures. This park is known for its rhino population and we saw several white rhino whilst here.
The Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Park came into being in 1895 and is the oldest game sanctuary in South Africa.
We saw four of the Big 5 on the boys first ever safari, only missing out on leopard. The Big 5, lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo, are the animals that everyone wants to see on safari. They are so called because they are the animals most dangerous to hunters on foot. The best sighting of the day was late on when we came across a pride of eleven lions, a male, females and several cubs. We were so close to these magnificent animals you could’ve touched them! However we kept our arms firmly inside the truck!
Whilst on safari we had both a fantastic breakfast in the bush as well as a South African braai (barbeque) at one of the many beautiful picnic sites in the park.
VISIT ISIMANGALISO WETLAND PARK
The iSimangaliso Wetland Park is a large park encompassing three major lake systems, eight interlinking ecosystems, 700 year old fishing traditions, most of South Africa’s remaining swamp forests, Africa’s largest estuarine system, 526 bird species, and 25,000 year old coastal dunes – amongst the highest in the world. The name iSimangaliso means miracle and wonder, which aptly describes this unique place. The park is home to several animal species and we were lucky enough to see rhino, impala, kudu and zebra while self-driving.
After driving north through the park we arrived at Cape Vidal. This is the best beach at which to go swimming in the St Lucia area as mostly the sea here is very rough and rip currents are common. At Cape Vidal it is safe to swim but only at low tide. As high tide comes in the ocean gets too rough and dangerous for swimming. Unfortunately for us we arrived at high tide so we didn’t do any swimming. It was very blowy on our visit and the sand was blowing everywhere. Sandy sandwiches all round!
WHERE WE STAYED
We spent four nights at Little Eden, self catering apartments, just a short drive from the centre of St Lucia. These apartments were huge and contained everything we needed. They have a magnificent view across forest and out to sea. You may well be visited by monkeys!
Check out our video of our time in St Lucia.
So, if you are planning a trip to South Africa put St Lucia on the list! It is certainly worth a visit.
KEEP READING:
Twelve Reasons Why You Should Visit South Africa With Kids
Top Ten Things To Do In Cape Town With Kids
Family Safari in Kruger National Park
Road Trip Along the Garden Route in South Africa With Kids
Swimming with Oceanic Black Tip Sharks with Blue Wilderness
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3 Comments.
Awesome!!
Excellent info thank you. We are planning on visiting at the end of October, hopefully not too rainy.
Do you have any more blogs about any other places you visited?
Yes, lots. Have you looked at the website? We spent five weeks in South Africa and covered Cape Town, Garden Route, Durban, St Lucia and Kruger NP. Where are you heading?