Greater St Lucia Wetland Park

In 1554, the area that is now St Lucia was called "Rio dos Medos do Ouro," which translates to "River of Golden Dunes" by the survivors of the Portuguese ship Sao Bento. Later, on 13 December 1575, the day of the feast of Saint Lucy, the estuary was named Santa Lucia by Manuel Peresterello. The British proclaimed St. Lucia as a township in 1822; by 1895, the St. Lucia Game Reserve was established 30km north of the town. Then, in 1971 following the establishment of the Ramsar Convention, the turtle beaches and coral reefs of Maputaland and the St. Lucia estuary were listed by the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance. The park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 1999.

Of iSimangaliso, the late great Nelson Mandela said: "iSimangaliso must be the only place on the globe where the oldest mammal [rhinoceros] and the world's biggest terrestrial mammal [elephant] share an ecosystem with the world's oldest fish [coelacanth] and the world's biggest marine mammal [whale]."

In St Lucia, one could find elephants, rhinoceros, buffalo, and leopards; Lions are the only Big Five species not present. Tourists only sometimes come here to see these species, but rather the amphibious hippopotamus. Hundreds of hippos live here and can be seen coming out at dusk to feed. They eat tons of grass every night and return to the estuary at dawn. The hippos then defecate in the water, feeding many fish and prawns. Hundreds of Nile crocodiles also make the St Lucia estuary their home. In the early summer. loggerhead and leatherback turtles come ashore to lay their eggs, which incubate for around 65 days. After that, the beaches are filled with hatchlings making for water.

An astonishing variety of species can be observed at St Lucia. You can spot whales and dolphins at sea. Vervet monkeys and baboons will entertain you with their antics. Keen observers might focus on civet, black-backed jackal, serval, aardwolf - the list goes on and on. St Lucia is a birding hotspot, with 526 bird species documented, including the pink-backed pelican and greater and lesser flamingo. More than a hundred different fish species use the estuary as a nursery. In the deep waters off the coast of St Lucia, the ancient coelacanth walks on the sea floor with specialized fins. A wide variety of snakes occur, including Mozambique spitting cobra and black and green mamba.

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park was South Africa's first World Heritage Site, awarded because of its unique terrain and vegetation. The park encompasses five major interlinking ecological zones: marine, eastern shore, Lake St Lucia, Mkuze swamps, and western shore zones. The park is also home to no less than three significant lake systems. There are so many threatened systems and species that it is hard to determine which is more important to mention. The fact that the park conserves most of South Africa's remaining swamp forests should indicate how important the area is.

The cycad found here is highly threatened, and much like the rhinoceros, the illegal trade in these plants is destroying the biodiversity of the areas in which they occur naturally occur. There are many other beautiful and rare plants in the region, including the paintbrush lily, giant carrion flower, water lilies, the rare yellow tree orchid, and the Natal dune vygie, to name but a few. The trees found in the area include the Fever, Sweet Thorn Acacia, Cabbage, Coastal Silver Oak, and Coral trees. The park also conserves many coastal and marine habitats, such as coral reefs and the gestation grounds for various turtles. It is truly one of the most diverse and rich biodiversity spots.