Durban day safari tour to St Lucia – Isimangeliso Wetland park 12th January 2015
I met my clients off the Oceana Nautica cruise ship in Richards bay which is a 2 hour drive from Durban city.
My clients were bang on time for their Durban day safari tour to St Lucia and at 8am we headed on a slow educational drive to St Lucia where we would be visiting a Crocodile park and Museum, doing a 2 hour boat cruise on the estuary and the board walk down to the estuary mouth.
All in all it was not a very long tour but it was a very enjoyable Durban day safari tour as my client really showed a lot of interest in the History, culture and general politics of our beautiful country South Africa.
When we got to St Lucia and Isimangeliso wetland park we first headed to the Crocodile center and museum. Here I educated my guests on what was happening in St Lucia and its value as a World heritage site.
We also looked at some amazing skulls and the crocodiles of course.
Crocodile at St Lucia on our Durban day safari tour
Crocodile at St Lucia on our Durban day safari tour
At this point we finished up and moved on to the 2 hour estuary cruise in St Lucia to view Hippos and crocodile as well as bird life. It was a great cruise and we all enjoyed it as it was a lovely hot day.
Hippo at St Lucia estuary Isimangeliso wetland park on our Durban day safari tour
Hippo at St Lucia estuary Isimangeliso wetland park on our Durban day safari tour
St Lucia estuary is the largest Esturine system in Southern Africa and is home to about 1000 Hippos and 1200 Crocodiles. It was an amazing bio-diverse area and very peaceful.
Further on we spotted a Goliath Heron in Flight.
Goliath Heron in flight at St Lucia estuary on our Durban day safari tour
Goliath Heron in flight at St Lucia estuary on our Durban day safari tour
As we continued upstream we came across a dead Buffalo bull which had tried to cross the Estuary to get to greener pastures on the Western Shores, this was clearly a problem as he did not make it. So a he lay their dead we continued with our Durban day safari tour.
Dead Buffalo in the estuary of St Lucia on our Durban day safari tour
Dead Buffalo in the estuary of St Lucia on our Durban day safari tour
As we continued further up stream we found more Hippos some of which were resting and this little on which was munching on some sort of reed she had found in the estuary.
Baby Hippo in St Lucia estuary on our Durban day safari tour
Baby Hippo in St Lucia estuary on our Durban day safari tour
Once we completed the St Lucia boat cruise we headed down to the Estuary board walk and had a good time making our way down it. We spotted some Crocodiles and herd some Hippos.
Crocodiles waiting at the estuary mouth for fish on our Durban day safari tour
Crocodiles waiting at the estuary mouth for fish on our Durban day safari tour
Once we got to the end of the 300 meter board walk we got onto the beach and could see that the estuary was even further back from the ocean, having chatted with some of the local lads I learned that possibly in February they will open it up to the ocean as the ocean level is higher than the estuary meaning water will flow in.
We saw Mapelane the second highest sand dune in the world in the distance down the beach.
Board walk at St Lucia with Mapelane in the back ground on our Durban day safari tour
Board walk at St Lucia with Mapelane in the back ground on our Durban day safari tour
Once we made our way back up the board walk it was time to make our way back after a great day of Safari and touring in the St Lucia area. We began the hour and a quarter drive back to where the ship was docked in Richards bay harbour.
It was a great Durban day safari tour!
