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St. Lucia Eco Tours Guide

Cape Vidal Tours
Enjoy a 4x4 adventure through the Eastern Shores Game Reserve on route to
Cape Vidal beach. This tour offers a mix of game viewing, snorkelling, hikes
and amazing scenery.
Sun, Sea, Sand & Safari all in one area - The St. Lucia Wetland Park must be the only place on the globe where the world’s oldest land mammal (the rhinoc-
eros) and the world’s largest terrestrial mammal (African elephant) share an ecosystem with the world’s oldest fish (Coelacanth) and the world’s largest marine
mammal (whale). The iSimangaliso Wetland Park is a United Nations World Heritage Site located on the Indian Ocean coast of South Africa near the borders
with Mozambique and Swaziland. The park encompasses several different conservation areas centered on Lake St. Lucia, its tidal estuary, neighbouring game
reserves, and the St. Lucia Marine Reserve, which extends offshore into the Mozambique Straight.
Wildlife in and around the Estuary Wildlife is plentiful! There are many
antelope in the forests including Reedbuck, Kudu, Nyala, Waterbuck, Im-
pala and Duiker. Warthogs and bush pigs are relatively easy to surprise.
Wildebeest can be seen in the grasslands. You can also see hippo and
crocs in the water. Buffalo and elephant are in the forest. We have seen
hyena spoor on the beach. Birdwatching is great - there are 3 habitats to be
found: forest, grassland and water. 526 bird species have been recorded
in the park.

Hippo and Croc Tours Lake St Lucia is home to thousands of hippos
and crocodiles and a boat trip on the estuary is guaranteed to have great
sightings. Keep an eye out for fantastic birdlife including African Fish Ea-
gles and Kingfishers. The Mangroves lining the lake are both beautiful and
interesting. Sunsets on the boat are fantastic, a perfect way to end the day.

Cape Vidal Wetland Tours Part of the Eastern Shores Game Reserve,
Cape Vidal has beautiful beaches where people like to sun themselves,
kick the football around, fish, and snorkel. The dunes here run all along
the Eastern Shores Night Drives. Discover a new way to explore the iSi-
mangaliso Wetland Park - under the cover of darkness. This tour offers
opportunity to see chameleon, porcupine, various antelope, hippo, noctur-
nal birds and occassionly hyena and leopard. Along with fantastic animal
sightings, the star gazing offers great views of the Milky way from the open
top Unimog vehicle.

Horse Riding Horse riding at iSimngaliso Wetland Park is a great way to
explore the wildlife in the area. Rides take place in the south of the park
where you could see zebra, wildebeest, bushbuck, warthog, duiker and
impala. Beach rides are also available.

Conferencing St Lucia Ecolodge and Conference Centre is the only prop-
erty in the iSimangaliso area that has two dedicated and fully equipped
conference rooms that can seat up to 100 delegates.

Teambuilding St Lucia Ecolodge and Conference Centre is the only prop-
erty in the iSimangaliso area that has a dedicated and functional teambuild-
ing department.
Local Market Tucked away in St Lucia at the end of McKenzie Street you
will find the most wonderful market. Here you can find a vast selection of
curios and fresh produce. Local farm produced paw-paws, bananas, avo-
cado pears, macadamia nuts and so much more can be found at the mar-
ket. Everybody loves a bargain, so be prepared to haggle with the friendly
vendors to agree on a price suitable to you both! This market has a great
atmosphere, is busy and is filled with an array of interesting people with
fascinating things or services to sell.
Cycling The Park provides opportunities for mountain-biking around St
Lucia Estuary. These rides are suitable for the novice to intermediate rider
and vary in length from 15 to 25 km on sand tracks, trails, gravel roads
and tar.
Birding The iSimangaliso Wetland Park is heaven for bird watching. The
estuary attracts a variety of seabirds water birds and waders. The iGwalaG-
wala forest at the edge of the town offers some of the best forest birding in
South Africa. iPhiva trail offers a variety of habitats which provides excel-
lent birding close to the town. Local bird guides can be booked to help you
find the rare and special birds for your lifelist.

Crocodile Centre The St. Lucia Croc Centre was set up to help protect and
conserve St. Lucia’s Nile crocodile population. There are many pools of
crocodiles on display from various ages and types. There are baby crocs,
juvenile crocs, some old crocs, as well as some North American alligators,
dwarf crocodiles and long snout crocodiles from other parts of the world.
Croc feeding takes every Saturday at 15:00 as well as on Wednesdays
There is also a snake collection featuring many of the regional poisonous
snakes. There is a snake demonstration every Saturday afternoon at 14:00.
10 Zululand Orange (Pty) Ltd.