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Wetlands World Heritage Tour

iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Wetlands World Heritage Tour
St Lucia beach

On this full day Wetlands World Heritage Tour we drive up the Eastern Shores of KwaZulu-Natal to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a site unparalleled in the world by its beauty and eco-diversity. In 1999 this Park was declared South Africa’s first World Heritage Site.

Formerly known as the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, this Park is one of the most outstanding natural wetland and coastal sites of Africa. The Park covers an area of 239,566 ha, and includes a wide range of beautiful marine, coastal, wetland, estuarine, and terrestrial environments. Long sandy beaches, coral reefs, coastal dunes, lake systems, swamps, as well as large papyrus and reed wetlands are all part of this natural environment. Being a protected site and unspoiled by people, these wetlands provide a suitable habitat for a wide range of animal and plant species.

Some of the Wetland treasures include:

  • 100 species of coral
  • 8 interlinking ecosystems as well as the last major swamp forests left in South Africa.
  • 3 major lake systems made up of Kosi Bay, Lake St Lucia and Lake Sibayi.
  • the highest density of black rhino in the world
  • nesting turtles
  • flamingos
  • the highest number of frog species in Southern Africa
  • 526 bird species
  • 110 butterfly species
  • over 2,000 flowering plants
  • all 5 of South Africa’s surviving mangrove tree species
  • 25,000 year-old coastal dunes

Game viewing, bird watching and even whale watching in season are all part of what this Wetlands World Heritage site  has to offer visitors. In the Zulu language iSimangaliso means ‘a miracle’, a fitting name for this beautiful part of our province.

Mating Crocodiles
It is very seldom that one sees crocodiles mating but I had the amazing experience of witnessing this on a recent trip.

Contact me to come on this tour ‘on roads less traveled’ for a once in a lifetime nature experience. If you have more than one day available I could design a tour to continue north to include the  Big 5 Safari Tour.

Iain Schouten
Tel:+27 (031) 716 8232
Cell:+27 (0) 82 841 3593

or fill in this Contact Form and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

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