I just can’t stay away from the iSimangaliso Wetland Park

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I’m fresh back from a 10 day tour through the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, visiting the Eastern and Western Shores of Lake Saint Lucia, the estuary, beaches and trails around the town of Saint Lucia as well as the uMkhuze section of the Park. Regular readers will know that this is one of my favourite South African wild places to visit and take guests to, but in almost thirty years of visiting I have never seen the Park live up to the “Wetland” part of its moniker as wonderfully as I have on this latest trip. Of course there’s a lot of photographs and videos in store for you in the weeks to come, but here’s a little appetizer to tide you over while I get down to the business of sorting and editing hundreds more.

An enormous jellyfish that drifted out of a rough sea on the beach at St. Lucia
Humpbacked Whale tail-slamming off St. Lucia
Cattle Egrets in flight over the sea at the estuary of Lake St. Lucia
Common Bush Brown butterfly
Spotted Buff butterfly
The bright flowers of the Canary Creeper
Mushrooms thriving in the damp coastal forest
Blue Pansy butterfly
African Piedspot Dragonfly
Mating Common Blue butterflies
Yellow Weaver
Kudu calf
Bushbuck ram
Crested Guineafowl
African Pygmy Geese among Blue Water Lilies
Immature Kelp Gull
Collared Pratincole
Lesser Moorhen
Sunrise over the wetlands
Narina Trogon
Road through the swamp forest near Cape Vidal
Squacco Heron
A stretch of the vastly expanded Lake Bhangazi
Huge Nile Crocodile slipping into the Mfabeni swamp
Reed Cormorant with a Platanna
Mission Rocks
Natal Rock Crab
Blue Water Lilies
African Buffalo
Sunrise over the wetlands
Spotted Hyena
African Buffalo
This leucistic Samango Monkey is a familiar inhabitant of Cape Vidal
Mfabeni Swamp
Secretary Bird
Plains Zebras
Platanna
Cape Vidal at low tide
Swift Tern
Samango Monkeys
Little Bee-eaters
African Swamphen
Kudu couple
Yellow-throated Longclaw
Purple Heron
Hippopotamus
The toes of a Foam Nest Frog
Flatface Longhorn Beetle (Lasiopezus longimanus), identified with the kind assistance of the “Insects only – Southern Africa” facebook page.
Marsh Terrapins
Slug close-up
Foam Nest Frogs mating
Foam Nest Frog in Kumasinga Hide
Foam Nest Frogs mating
Elephant bull on a walk about
Elephant bull at uMkhuze

Remember that DeWetsWild will gladly assist you with reservations and guided tours of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park if you’d like to visit this wonderful place as well.

26 thoughts on “I just can’t stay away from the iSimangaliso Wetland Park”

  1. Pingback: iSimangaliso is a very wet Wetland Park at the moment | DeWetsWild

      1. wetanddustyroads's avatarwetanddustyroads

        Ons het, maar soos jy tereg noem, dit was net ‘n voorsmakie. Ons gaan nog eendag iSimangaliso deeglik besoek … maar o wee, die tyd! Intussen gaan ek net eers jou posts geniet 🙂.

    1. DeWetsWild's avatarDeWetsWild Post author

      Thank you very much, Sue. There’s no denying that iSimangaliso counts among our greatest natural treasures. And in a country so richly endowed that is saying a lot!

      Reply ↓
  9. scrapydo2.wordpress.com's avatarscrapydo2.wordpress.com

    Kan sien hoekom jy mal is oor St Lucia. Ek het self net vinnig ‘n nag of twee in St Lucia vertoef. Nooit geleentheid gehad om dieper in te gaan. ‘n Vriendin van my het jaarliks by Cape Vidol uitgekamp en altyd heerlike avonture vertel. Eks ook lief vir Mkuzi wildtuin. Dis my ideaal van wildtuin. Nie te uitgestrek en tog baie om te beleef. Paddatone! Nou het ek als gesien haha. Selfs daardie reuse jellievis! nie geweet hul kan so massief word nie.

    Reply ↓
  11. sustainabilitea's avatarsustainabilitea

    Oh my, what glorious treasures today, Dries!! I can see why you love it there. The opening water lily and that crazy jellyfish are my favorites today…maybe. 🙂 So many to like.

    Reply ↓

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