The rugged beauty of Mission Rocks

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Today a very popular picnic and fishing spot north of St. Lucia Town in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, Mission Rocks is named for a Catholic mission station established in the area in 1888. The path leading from the parking area to the beach opens onto a scene of rugged, rocky beauty, revealing rock pools teeming with life at low tide and impressing with the thundering of crashing waves at high tide. There’s a sandy, open beach 500m northwards of the rocks, with a sea-cave where thousands of bats roost.

Mission Rocks
Mission Rocks
Mission Rocks picnic spot
Mission Rocks
de Wet family shadows at Mission Rocks
Mission Rocks
Mission Rocks
Mission Rocks
Mission Rocks
Keep an eye open for the vervet monkeys while having a picnic at Mission Rocks
Natal Rock Crab at Mission Rocks
Mission Rocks
Fiscal flycatcher

On the way to Mission Rocks, the uMziki viewpoints and picnic site, set right in the coastal forest, is a worthwhile stop. From atop the dune there’s views over Lake Saint Lucia to the west and the Indian Ocean to the east, and down below in the forested picnic site there’s an astounding variety of birds that would normally be very shy but here seems quite habituated to having humans around. There’s also usually a couple of red duiker to be seen.

uMziki viewpoint over Lake Saint Lucia
uMziki viewpoint over Indian Ocean
uMziki viewpoint
Golden-tailed woodpecker
White-eared barbet
Livingstone’s turaco
Red-capped robin-chat
Red duiker
Red duiker

 

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