Durban - In the interests of full disclosure, I must confess I’ve always had a soft spot for the quaint town of St Lucia on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast.
When I was a child it was the annual destination for numerous memorable holidays.
So it was a trip down memory lane when I returned to the town after many years.
After a weekend full of activities, it was a relief to discover that the bustling town had lost none of its charm.
Serving as the gateway to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, which is a world heritage site, St Lucia has become an increasingly popular destination for local and overseas visitors.
We stayed at the comfortable four-star Amazulu Lodge in the heart of the village, and within walking distance of the beach, nature trails and estuary, as well as shops and restaurants.
With so much to do, but so little time, we dropped our bags on arrival and boarded a hippo and croc cruise with Advantage Tours – an activity synonymous with St Lucia.
Childhood memories flooded back as we drifted past the prolific inhabitants of the St Lucia estuary, while the sunset backdrop turned the sky into a kaleidoscope of colour.
At 5am the next day we left for an organised day trip to the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve, the oldest in Africa, which is less than an hour’s drive from St Lucia.
And despite the early hour, we were soon wide awake when we were treated to the rare sight of a couple of wild dogs on the side of the road, minutes after our arrival, prompting a German tourist to cheerfully proclaim: “Zis muss be our lucky day.”
As part of the trip offered by Heritage Tours & Safaris we were treated to breakfast and a lunch-time braai, with the cheerful ranger David demonstrating his culinary skills to go with his extensive knowledge of the reserve’s fauna and flora.
It is worth visiting this reserve, which is close to St Lucia.
This world-renowned “big five” park has one of the largest populations of white rhino. We can attest to this because our sightings for the day tallied into double figures.
When we got back to town we took a stroll along St Lucia’s main street in search of a dinner destination and unfortunately there was no sign of the pizza restaurant my family and I used to visit on our annual pilgrimage.
Nevertheless, with this memory in mind, we were drawn to the Reef and Dune restaurant by the pizza signs outside.
The vibey place seemed to be a popular with the locals.
And as for strolling on the streets at night, the residents told us it was safe.
Well, from a crime point of view anyway, because locals also warned us to be on the lookout for hippos. They said the giant animals went into town at night to look for succulent vegetation.
Our final day in St Lucia dawned too soon, and after a hearty breakfast at Amazulu Lodge, we went on a last excursion to explore the nearby “eastern shores” within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
We chose the self-drive option instead of an organised tour, which allowed us to take a slow meander through the reserve, stopping at viewpoints and watering holes, before ending at Cape Vidal.
This pristine bay is well known as a snorkelling hot spot, while the nature reserve, which is nestled between the estuary and Indian Ocean, is teeming with wildlife – from zebra to to buffalo to antelope.
In fact, it even contained hidden surprises, as we discovered when a pair of hyenas jumped out of the bush alongside the road.
While such a sighting was a fitting way to end our stay, we left St Lucia feeling there was still so much we hadn’t had the chance to tick off our to-do list.
We had run out of time to visit the new “western shores” section of the wetland park, which is said to offer scenery of a different kind – undulating hills, lush savannah and swamplands, not to mention the possibility of seeing elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard.
We had also missed the popular whale season, which is from May to December.
Other activities offered are horse riding, night drives, kayaking and deep-sea fishing.
Robyn Canning, the manager of Amazulu Lodge, correctly commented: “Everything is on our doorstep. You have the Indian Ocean on one side, a big-five game reserve not even an hour away, and pretty much everything in between. There is such diversity.”
And although we weren’t able to cram it all into one weekend, I think I’ll have to make St Lucia an annual holiday destination once again.
If You Go...
Place to stay: Amazulu Lodge: Low season – sharing R540 pp. High season – room rate (sleeps two) – R1400. Contact: e-mail [email protected], or call 035 590 1026/ 082 569 6203
Must-do activities: hippo and croc cruise, visit to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (eastern and western shores), trip to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve
Rough driving time from Johannesburg to St Lucia: six/ seven hours - Saturday Star