St. Lucia Estuary, South Africa

To see our South Africa Photos, Click Here

St. Lucia Beach

Another travel day, this time with a border crossing from Swaziland to St. Lucia, South Africa.  We just missed the bus departing at 8AM because it was full, so we had to wait for the next one to fill up - 2 more hours of sitting around.  It's really just plain luck - you never know when to try to catch one of these mini-vans.  You could be the first or the last to get on at any time of day, and your wait time depends on your luck!!
They were really nice though, and our driver was a good one.  A bit of a wait at the border for all the goods on the trailer, but Michelle and I were happy because we had asked for another 3 month visa, and the border guy was nice enough to give it to us!!  We could have been stuck with a 30 day visa, and then have to extend, but he must have liked the 'cut of our jib'.
On our arrival to St. Lucia, we were greeted by two friendly faces.  Lee and Maquinna had stayed at Sundowners also, and were heading the same direction as us.

Sunrise in iSimangaliso Wetlands Park

St. Lucia is famous for the iSimangaliso Wetlands Park (St. Lucia Wetlands), which was the first Unesco World Heritage Site in South Africa.  It stretches 280 km North to the Mozambique border and contains the largest estuary in Africa.  It protects five different ecosystems, including the estuary wetlands, lakes, off-shore reefs, dunes, and coastal forests.  Unfortunately, it is struggling with very low water levels due to droughts and high water usage upstream.  This will obviously affect the flora and fauna contained in the park. 
We headed to the beach after our first night, with Lee and Maquinna.  Lee had hoped to go spear fishing, and catch some dinner, but we had trouble hitching to our desired destination of Cape Vidal, so settled for the town beach.  After a cool lunch on the beach, Michelle and I walked back to town along the beach and then boardwalk, with views out to the estuary.  Hippos and crocodiles are abundant here, and often in the evenings, there are hippos wandering the back streets of town. 

We think these are hippopotamus footprints in the dried concrete

We saw a couple of each in the estuary, but luckily none in town.  Hippos actually are the most dangerous animal in Africa, accounting for more deaths than any other creature.  I think mainly due to their poor eyesight, and territorial instincts, and the fact that most people think they are harmless.  They can actually run up to 35 km/h - CRAZY!!  Try outrunning that mass at that speed - lots of momentum behind them.
Since a safari trip to the iSimangaliso is quite expensive, we decided to self drive ourselves in a little toaster-oven of a car we rented for 2 days.  First day, we visited the cheetahs at the cat sanctuary, then we hit the road at 6AM to get an early start in the park.  There were some nice animals in the park, but not as abundant as other parks we have visited.  We did have nice views of hippos playing in a pond, 6 rhinos in the distance past other game, and spent some time at a fancy new 'hide' built near a good waterhole.  

Sunset in iSimangaliso Wetlands Park

It seemed everywhere there was a concrete path, there were some type of cat footprints, and once a weird 4 toed tracks, that we found out was hippo.  It was nice to be able to cruise around ourselves, through the various terrain and ecosystems.  Stopping for a nice break on the beach at Cape Vidal, I decided against a swim as the seas were rough, and looked quite chilly. 
After a long day out, we arrived at the backpackers to find they had a Zulu dancing show by the fire pit.  It was interesting to see them high leg kicks, foot stomping, and heavy drum beats.  Very staged, but the group enjoyed as they asked all to come up and dance as well.    Off to Mtunzini next to visit a lovely couple that we met in Kruger Park in late August.   I think we will have our own bedroom, laundry, and hot showers - some things we are both very much looking forward to.  *Stub