06/09/2021
This is a place that amazed me with its magic of both terrestrial and marine life and jaw-dropping landscapes. Hippos wandering the streets of St. Lucia, crocodiles and turtles along, and near, the beaches, as well as an abundance of other wildlife 🦛🐊🇿🇦
The beauty and biological wealth of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, made it a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, South Africa’s first. The park is now South Africa’s second largest protected area after the Kruger National Park, incorporating the country’s largest marine protected area – also the only Transfrontier marine protected area as it joins Mozambique’s protected waters.
The Park contains three major lake systems, eight interlinking ecosystems, 700 year old fishing traditions, most of South Africa’s remaining swamp forests, Africa’s largest estuarine system, 530 bird species and 25,000 year-old coastal dunes – among the highest in the world. The name iSimangaliso means miracle and wonder, which aptly describes this unique place.
