KZN North Coast

Kwa Zulu Natal North Coast

THE GREATER ST LUCIA WETLAND PARK

The vast watery wilderness of Greater St Lucia – a liquid melding of lagoons, swamps and waterways interspersed with tracts of reeds and papyrus and defined at its fringes by high forested dunes – understandably is South Africa’s pride and joy when it comes to pristine wetland areas. Comprising a bewildering array of reserves, each proclaimed separately and managed individually within an integrated unit, the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park begins at the Maphelane Nature Reserve, just south of St Lucia estuary, and cuts a giant swathe north to Kosi Bay, which butts onto the Mozambique border. Encompassed within that great sweep are four wildlife reserves, the country’s largest freshwater lake, a coastal forest reserve and a marine sanctuary where South Africa’s most thrilling diving experience attracts hordes of scuba and snorkelling fanatics. Also of great significance is St Lucia’s extensive number of biomes – these are classifications of vegetation types into specific habitats, each supporting unique animal and plant life. Ecologists do not always agree on the exact basis of determining each biome, so there are often conflicting reports as to the precise number in this country’s protected areas. However, in St Lucia there are clearly at least five of the main biome types

 A place in the sun for (almost) everyone
The personalities drawn inexorably to this part of the world, like the irresistible pull of metal to magnet, are the fishermen: rock and surf anglers who love the salty sea spray and the squawking of seagulls dipping and planing overhead, or the dawn tranquillity of an undisturbed stretch of estuary or mirror-reflective lagoon, or the sheer thrill of testing their strength at sea against a dorado or bluefin tuna. Then there are the birding fanatics who come to tick off a great proportion of the 521 species that were officially recorded in October 1998 (now 526 and counting!), when St Lucia was up for its Ramsar nomination Beyond this, there are simply the naturalists who escape from the crowded summertime fishing and 4x4 fraternity by seeking out the remote, untouched pockets of nature, striking out on any of the large number of hiking and wilderness trails. The wildlife reserves – Mkhuze, Phinda, Tembe and Ndumo – between them have, living on their varied terrain, an impressive line-up, starting with elephant, black and white rhino and the gorgeous big cats, and decreasing steadily in size to vervet and samango monkey, thick-tailed bushbaby and red squirrel. Finally, the waterbabies aim their snorkels, fins and tanks firmly at Sodwana, South Africa’s diving mecca, where, it’s claimed by some travel writers, the underwater marvels rate on an equal footing with Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. In order to make sense of St Lucia Wetland’s vastness, it’s necessary to divide it into comprehensible chunks. A good start is the main park’s entrance at Mtubatuba, which gives immediate access to St Lucia Village, the estuary and the park’s southernmost reaches at Maphelane Nature Reserve.

Sodwana, Kosi & Tembe

SODWANA BAY
Its role as a major fishing destination aside, Sodwana’s reefs – although not true coral reefs, rather corals attached to sandstone outcrops – lure (it’s claimed) 80,000 scuba divers each year. Popular Two-Mile Reef, 12–25m (40–80ft) deep, as well as Five-, Seven- and Nine-Mile reefs keep divers mesmerized with their sponges and soft corals in shades of purple and pink through orange and sunburst yellow. Eerie intricately worked brain and staghorn hard corals, little sea creatures with feather-duster appendages, gaudy sea slugs and bulbous anemones harbouring tiny clownfish all contribute to the underwater panorama. Flitting in among all of this are the reef fish in jewel hues of their own – orange sea goldies, blue-spotted rock cod, pairs of yellow-and black butterflyfish and aggressive-looking honeycomb moray eels. Out in deeper waters, divers could come face to face with ragged tooth, hammerhead and tiger sharks, as well as whale sharks, manta and eagle rays, dolphins and turtles. They don’t call this South Africa’s diving mecca for nothing …

TEMBE ELEPHANT RESERVE
All that separates the two parks in the northernmost reaches of Greater St Lucia Wetlands, Tembe and Ndumo, is a tract of land known as Mbangweni Corridor. Great herds of elephant used to freely tread ancient migratory paths between Mozambique and South Africa until the civil war brought about their decline through major poaching. Of an estimated population of 400 animals, elephant were decimated to such an extent that in 1989 a head count yielded around 120 individuals. Fences were erected along the northern boundary and today Tembe is reputed to be home to KwaZulu-Natal’s largest endemic elephant herd. Visitors need to be accompanied by a ranger and day permits are necessary unless you’re staying overnight. The dense sand forest – look for False Tamboti, also called Umzithi (Cleistanthus schlechteri), Lebombo wattle and Zulu podberry – can provide a very effective camouflage for the wildlife, and you need a sharp trained eye to pick them out. But white and black rhino, buffalo, blue wildebeest and the shy little suni antelope are all there for the spotting.

KOSI BAY
People who migrate to Kosi Bay’s shores love the solitude, footprint-less beaches and absence of sounds bar the soul-stirring call of the African Fish Eagle. They come here to shed their modern, civilized trappings. The name ‘bay’ belies Kosi’s character – it is, in fact, an estuary linking four interconnected lakes that string out southward along the coast. Angling, as usual, absorbs most visitors, including the local Thonga fishermen whose wooden palisade fish traps scar the waters in wavy curves – a distinctive Kosi Bay branding. The lakes, in sequence from north to south, are: Makhawulani, Mpungwini, Nhlange and Amanzimnyama. The latter is fringed with giant-leaved Kosi Palms (Raphia australis), whose fleshy fruit and leafy fronds provide food and nesting sites to the rare black-and-white Palm-nut Vulture. Also protected here, in Kosi’s coastal forest Nature Reserve, are ilala palms, waterberry trees, Natal Forest Mahogany (Trichilia dregeana) and milkwoods – but more importantly, all of South Africa’s five mangrove species flourish in the swamps and marshes. This is the only area in the country that they occur together. A guided four-day hiking trail meanders through Kosi’s changing land- and seascapes, each time offering night spots set in different scenery while exploring the four lakes, guaranteeing that Kosi’s beauty gets firmly under your skin.