iSimangaliso Wetland Park

UNESCO World Heritage Site (1999) And SOUTH AFRICA'S FIRST: Two Hundred And Twenty Kilometres Of Coast Holding Africa'S Largest Estuarine System, The Continent'S Southernmost Coral Reefs, Forested Dunes Among The Highest In The World, Hippo And Crocodile In Lake St Lucia, Leatherback And Loggerhead Turtles Nesting On The Beaches And Whales Offshore Five Distinct Ecosystems In One Park · St Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal

iSimangaliso was South Africa's first World Heritage Site, listed in 1999, and it is in the park's own words a place of miracles - two hundred and twenty kilometres of KwaZulu-Natal coast holding five distinct ecosystems stacked against each other. Lake St Lucia is Africa's largest estuarine system, full of hippo and crocodile, with forested dunes behind it among the highest in the world. Offshore at Sodwana are the continent's southernmost coral reefs. Leatherback and loggerhead turtles come up the beaches to nest between about November and February; humpback whales pass offshore in winter; and the grasslands and sand forests hold elephant, rhino and buffalo. Nothing else in South Africa puts reef, estuary, dune forest, swamp and savanna in one park. Two things to take seriously before you go: the northern half is a MALARIA AREA, and hippos walk through St Lucia village at night and kill people who get between them and water.

Along the KwaZulu-Natal coast from St Lucia north to the Mozambique border, with Lake St Lucia and the Kosi Bay lakes inside it, St Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

The park's sections keep daylight hours with conservation fees paid at each gate - Cape Vidal, Mission Rocks, the Eastern Shores, Charters Creek, Sodwana Bay and Kosi Bay are effectively separate entrances, and a day in one is not a day in another. THE NORTHERN PART IS A MALARIA AREA, which is a doctor's question before you travel. Estuary boat trips for hippo and crocodile leave from St Lucia village and are the standard first activity. TURTLE NESTING RUNS ROUGHLY NOVEMBER TO FEBRUARY and is seen on permitted guided night walks only, booked ahead and limited - it is not something to turn up for. Sodwana's diving is through local operators. HIPPO AND CROCODILE MOVE THROUGH ST LUCIA VILLAGE AFTER DARK and the warning signs are not decorative. Richards Bay has the nearest airport, and Durban is about three hours south.

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