Submitted by SafariADV on Wed, 2018-11-14
We are in South Africa, we are in the area of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park near the St. Lucia Lake; we will explore the area between today and tomorrow and we cannot wait.
We enter from the Nhlozi gate and then continue towards the lake; the first part of the road is in an area of crops, but soon, and luckily, we get to the wildest area: we are on the Western Shore of the lake, but the road does not run along the water, so it is difficult to perceive that, not far from us, there is a huge reservoir.
We are driving through the Southern part of the Western Shore that crosses a grassy plain with wild flowers, similar to those of Namaqualand, where we see several zebras and wildebeests and some bushbucks; in this part of the St. Lucia Lake there are elephants but we cannot see them, we would have gladly photographed them.
As we proceed slowly we see a dung beetle in the middle of the road that is carrying a ball of dung; this bettle uses the dung of ruminant mammals as nourishment and to deposit its eggs, so it happens to see them while, with their hind legs, they create balls of dung and roll them to bring them to a safe place.
The road ends at the Dukuduku Gate, from here we go out of this section of the St. Lucia Lake and we go to the town of St. Lucia, that is the main base for those who want to spend a few days in the Southern Section of the St. Lucia Lake.
The city has a main road, along which there are restaurants, cafes, safari agencies and those organizing whale watching; here is also a local market that sells fruit and vegetables and some souvenirs, there is, finally, a small supermarket.
Behind the main road there are some mainly residential streets, with some houses and some B&Bs.
Given the time we have lunch at one of the restaurants here; we have the distinct feeling that we will not cook in these evenings but we will come here, we deserve it after so many days when we have cooked ourselves!
After lunch we go to a very nice café that is as well on the main street, it has a very original name: Coffee Shop; but the coffee is good, we stay here for a while planning our days at iSimangaliso.
We booked the sunset cruise on the river online, but since it's still early, we go to check-in at the campsite where we'll sleep tonight and tomorrow: the Sugar Loaf Campsite.
The camp is developed between the river course, near the estuary, and the beach on the Indian Ocean; we enter and go to look for a pitch that is flat, that is not too far from the bathrooms, but above all we avoid having other cars next to us, we love solitude.
After we have found the perfect place, we relax a bit, at the campsite we see some animals including red and blue duikers, as well as many birds; we watch them while sipping a glass of Chardonnay by Casa Montini.
At a certain moment we leave the table, the chairs and the ammo boxes there and go back to the city; we go to the jetty from where the cruises depart.
We arrive at the jetty a little earlier to check in and then take the opportunity to take a ride to the craft store located nearby.
At 5:00 pm we embark and we leave!
We are on board a Shoreline Boat Cruise boat, the guide is very prepared and explains a lot of interesting information about the St. Lucia Lake, its estuary and the animals and plants that live here.
On the banks of the estuary and the river we spot, among the papyri or on the small sandy beaches, several Nile crocodiles, some specimens are really huge; on board there is a crocodile's skull, it is very interesting to observe it.
The waters of the lake and the river are inhabited by many hippos, there are several families and our guide seems to know them all and also knows the character of the various components; incredible!
We also spot several water birds, some of which nest right between the reeds and the papyri.
The sun sets and the sky is tinged with warm colors while we drink a warm tea kindly offered by Shoreline; we really needed it because the air is getting a little cold.
When we return to the jetty it's starting to get dark, we say goodbye to our guide and we go get our Dr. Livingstone and we leave.
Back on the main road of St. Lucia, we have dinner at one of our favorite South African restaurants tonight: the Ocean Basket!
I would say that our first day at the St. Lucia Lake was great, we are curious to know what the park will reserve for us tomorrow.
