The coastal wetlands of St Lucia

With Thursday and Friday being public holidays we were on the road again....

This time to St Lucia, a coastal town in the wetlands of KwaZulu-Natal. The Greater St Lucia Wetlands is a diverse ecosystem of wetlands stretching along a 60km-long estuary, and even boasts to have the highest vegetated dunes in the world which tower over the adjacent swamp and grassland. Soph organised an awesome house for the 8 of us that ventured down for the long weekend, and so the partying (& sightseeing) began!

Due to it's location on the coast, the climate was humid and a welcome change from the cold nights in JHB. The small town is circled by wetlands and picturesque rainforests and also boasts the odd roaming hippo or crocodile!

We enjoyed:

- wandering through the streets and surrounds of St Lucia;

- venturing into the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park and spotting rhino's, buffalo and kudu to name a few;

- catching the last rays of Autumn sun and swimming at the beach; and

- enjoying beers at the local yacht club whilst watching the fighting hippo's and lazy crocodiles in the overlooking estuary.

A night out on town gave us a chance to mingle with some locals after they had finished their shift in the adjacent restaurant. Never mind that we were the only people in the pub- we could create our own party. A fun night of dancing, singing & laughing was had by all. On the short walk home in the wee hours of the morning the boys found themselves less than 30m from 2 roaming hippo's in town... very very dangerous. Luckily the hippo's ignored the boys & kept plodding into the surrounding forest.

Jen was given a belated South African hen's night (Pete got his South African Buck's night last year, so it was decided that Jen should get her equivalent!). The celebrations were accompanied with a traditional Boer dish from South Africa- a potjiekos (pronounced poi-key) which Tarryn cooked. It is stewed meat & vegetables that cooks for 3 hours over hot coals... Delicious!

A great weekend in a picturesque location with a balance of relaxation, celebrations & sight-seeing.