South Africa ’14, Part 4: St. Lucia


After falling totally in love with Umngazi River Resort, we didn’t expect much when arriving in St. Lucia knowing it’s a very small touristy village. That’s when you’re mostly positively surprised, I think. So were we.

We chose to stay at Lodge Afrique which was a little bit out of town, but like I said, it’s a really small town so we could still go everywhere on foot. One night on our way back to the Lodge after dinner, we saw a hippo grazing on the side of the street. We actually heard it first before spotting it cause it’s impossible not to recognise their huffing sound. We had heard about this being quite a frequent sight in St. Lucia, which has the highest density of Hippos and Crocodiles on the East Coast, witnessing it though was a different story, both exciting and frightening at the same time. People also told us that, despite being rather aggressive in the water, hippos are quite “human-friendly” on land knowing they’re not in their own territory. The most remarkably thing for us is, these hippos really went pretty far away from the water to reach downtown St. Lucia, which was like 10min drive with a car. Maybe they really thought the grass was greener on the other side ;-).

During our 4 days here, we went kayaking for crocodiles and hippos watching, visited the Crocodiles Center and learnt a lot about so many kinds of alligator and crocodile worldwide. We also loved hanging around in the garden of our Lodge and going for long walks along Cape Vidal beach. We were very sad to leave, but also every excited to reach our next destination, the one and only Kruger National Park.

P

lucia_f

A small pathway leading to the bungalows of Lodge Afrique where we stayed in St Lucia
Lodge Afrique, which made us feel more like home than we expected. There’s a lot of privacy cause each room has its own entrance, as you can see here. It’s at the middle-price range and definitely a great value for your money.
Tessa, our host. She is such a wonderful person. Talking to her was a big pleasure. Hope she's doing fine!
Tessa, manager of the Lodge, who treated us so warmly we would come back to this place again just for her. Hope she’s doing fine!
Fruit market on St Lucia's main street
Fruit market on St Lucia’s main street
The beach of St Lucia, you have to be really careful here because of the hippos and crocodiles - it's their territory
The main beach of St Lucia, which goes on and on.
Another smile that makes me smile
Another smile that makes me smile
Wooden pathway during sunset
Wooden pathway from the beach to the parking lot, it’s no surprise to spot crocodiles underneath.
Cape Vidal beach
Cape Vidal beach within the St. Lucia Marine Reserve, still no hotel or resorts allowed, only some camp sites. I really hope it will remain like this for a very long time.
Male kudu
Male kudu, who has the most elegant jumping/running style of all the bush animals. We were left in awe seeing one jumping across the road in front of us.
Another kudu watching us
Female Kudu
Dinner...
Hardly imagine to find sushi in a country like South Africa. We went for the usual local dishes though.
Kayak tour on the river, watching hippos and crocodiles
Kayak tour on the Mfolozi river for hippos and crocodiles watching. Despite much warning, people still come swimming in here on occasions. A couple days before we arrived, a newly-wed couple went in for a midnight dip and was never found again.

lucia12

A "traffic" sign in the crocodile centre
No words needed 😉
St. Lucia Crocodile Center
Buying some fruit on the way to our next destination.
Buying some fruit on the way to our next destination. Yes, we ate them all.

lucia19

She does like chilli!!
She does like chilli!!