Greater St Lucia Wetland Park – The Elephant Coast

Visiting South Africa’s first World Heritage Site, the most ecologically diverse park in Southern Africa, The Mole heard, “There’s been a leopard spotted recently so best keep to the main road in the village at night, and it’s probably not a good idea to go for a swim in the pool in the evening as we’ve had hippos in it this week” said Megan De Waal whilst the Mole was booking in at the Protea Hotel St. Lucia [Pictured right].

Hmmm! The Mole immediately had visions of award winning photos…  As he picked up his keys and headed for his burrow, Megan continued “Oh yes, there are also snakes everywhere, so best to keep the sliding door closed as well……..”

Crikeys the Mole thought, and said “Anything else?” A considered pause was finally followed up with “Weeelll, just be careful if you go for a walk along the water’s edge!”

So began the Mole’s trip in the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park and in good Aussie tradition, he immediately threw open the sliding door, strolled past the pool, went down, er……. very briefly, to the waters edge, and headed back to knock the froth off a couple to consider his options. [Interesting sign picture left!]

The Greater St Lucia Wetland Park is part of the region known as The Elephant Coast, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal and the Elephant coast also includes Africa’s oldest game reserve, the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park, an area that was once the royal hunting grounds of King Shaka, and which is also credited for saving the White Rhino.

The Mole had arrived in the southern part of the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, at the village of St Lucia, located near the mouth of the Lake St Lucia – the largest Estuarine system in the world, with the 85km of lake varying from 1.5 metres at low tide to 2.3 metres at high tide (with an overall average of around 1 metre).

The park has five intertwined ecosystems, and the coast immediately adjacent to the lake is warmed by a tropical current that keeps the water at 31 degrees Celsius, so there are tropical reefs and fabulous diving opportunities.  

The lake itself is fed by five rivers, and the park is on a similar latitude to the Sunshine Coast in Oz, the main difference being that you can end up on the menu if you are, lets say a little distracted! Mind you…………!

What this all means is that the Elephant Coast has plenty to offer, particularly if you love a beach holiday with some great options, including:

** Reef Diving

** Turtle Breeding (Leather backs)

** Boat Tours (Hippos, Crocs and more)

** Whale, shark & dolphin watching

** A host of eco-tourist activities

Additionally it is said to be a fisherman’s paradise, where anglers flock to the many angling areas in the park…….and of course there has to be a ‘tallest in the…’, or ‘most highest point in the measured….’ type claim to fame! 

For St Lucia, this is ‘The highest vegetated sand dunes in Africa’, at over 180m in height.  They are chock full of critters, which you can see on self guided walks.

The highlight of the day was taking a Hippo & Croc Trip on an Advantage Cruiser from the jetty in St Lucia.  The two hour trip explored the St Lucia Estuary and our Skipper and Tour Guide was Dave Van Der Walt, who has seen a number of happenings on the lake over the years.

This includes a big male crocodile having a younger crocodile for lunch, ‘Bull’ (male) mullet (big ones) jump into the cruiser, a big male hippo dispose of his younger competition for the harem – and also a group of hippo killing a large croc who got too close to a young hippo in their group.

With over 500 species of bird in the area, Dave kept us busy by spotting all the wildlife goodies around us, including over six types of Kingfisher such as the Pied, Giant and Malacite. 

He continued by telling us that salt water pushes 20km into the lake from the Indian Ocean, and after observing a young couple on the shore said dryly “Homo Sapiens at 11 o’clock, no offspring”……….and our old Aussie mate the Bull Shark has been spotted in these waters.

However, the star attractions were a couple of groups of hippos.  Though there are over 2,000 crocs in the lake, there are over 1,300 hippos that emerge from the lake at night to eat shed-loads of grass on the shores and plains surrounding the lake. Some go window-shopping in the village and a few visit local establishments that have swimming pools to quench their thirst. 

They are happy to wallow in salt water all day, but can’t drink it!

Climbing whelks are like small slugs that cling to the mangrove trees like little infestations of alien creatures. Remarkably they climb up and down with the tide – they know just when to start climbing and when to move down the trunk of the mangrove!

One of the most popular fishes for the barby is something called a ‘grunter’ according to Dave, who enjoys the sunsets over the lake in winter particularly. 

The owner operated Advantage Cruiser is custom built to venture into the shallowest of waters, which means you can get up close and personal in a lot of cases for that marvellous photograph you seek.

Interestingly, not many Australians and New Zealanders seem to join his cruises, which has him scratching his head.  This theme is carried on by Willem Breedt, the owner of the Protea Hotel St Lucia and he strongly believes that the area is under-marketed and up there with Kruger Park in terms of wildlife.

The Mole had a long chat with Willem in the bar (mostly the upcoming Super 14 final!) and had a look at a number of old St Lucia photos on the wall and in World War II, Catalina Flying Boats were based on the lake (complete with note from an airman describing the dangers of hitting a hippo or croc on taking off or landing!) to hunt for German U-Boats, some of which are believed to have been sent down to Davey Jones Locker. 

They did invaluable work spotting survivors adrift after U-Boat attacks, directing rescuers to their location.

Having been to Oz a few times, Willem reckons that the area is pretty similar to Port Douglas in parts, and I’d have to agree from what I’ve seen to date and a bunch of locals were eager to give me the good oil on the area, including some ‘Crocodile Dundee’ types that can be spotted sometimes!

They loved the area, recommended Cape Vidal as a fabulous camping and swimming spot (mind you, it could been ‘wind up the Aussie’ by this stage, but I believed ‘em…).  The diving is really rated along the coast, with lots of rock reefs to explore.

The Mole liked the fact that the whole atmosphere is relaxed (not even a traffic light in town) and also detected a little of the rural vs urban in Willem’s tone when he said the wetlands had ‘their own rules’, it was safe for visitors and in particular, families.  This is certainly borne out by the noticeable lack of preventative barbed wire that you see in the more urban areas.

Though there is a lot of wildlife around, the locals quickly assured me that when measured against its counterparts in South Africa, it was the very safest.

The unique selling point for me is that it seems to be just like going on a holiday to Queensland, except for the fact that when you have had enough of the seaside activities like surfing, diving & fishing, you can actually go on a water or land safari and scare the kids so much they’ll go straight to sleep, leaving you to have a cooling drink whilst waiting to spot the hippos (from a safe vantage point!) should they decide they’d like a night on the town.

The final word should go to the hippos – last night there was no bellowin’ outside my window, which was disappointing, as I was hoping that they might at least do battle with the Kreepy Crawly in the pool!

They are actually responsible for ensuring that Africa’s most important fish and prawn nursery ground is kept in tip-top condition, by…er, depositing Hippo manure in the warm tropical water!

So I wasn’t really that disappointed they missed the hotel pool, however I have been assured the only wallowing that takes place there is done by homo sapiens.

I suppose when you have one of the worlds biggest warm bathtubs and you float around in it all day………………..!

Report by The Mole