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St. Lucia - South Africa's Jurassic paradise by Barbara Ulmi
Land of ripe bananas, soft avocado pears, and sweet coconuts. Land of roaming elephant herds, sun basking hippos and snapping crocodiles - the Elephant Coast in KwaZulu Natal, embraced by the warm Indian Ocean, the Umfolozi River in the south and Mozambique in the north, is one of South Africa's most beautiful and unspoilt areas. It is a perfect destination for everyone - be it for the sensitive ecologist, the great outdoors fan or the happy camper sitting on the boulders at Mission Rock sporting his hook, line and sinker. The beating heart of this paradise-on-earth even has a saintlike name - St. Lucia, the only private village surrounded by a Natural World Heritage Site.
The Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park obtained South Africa's first Natural World Heritage status in 1999 by UNESCO, and comprises an impressive 280 km of coastline - starting south of the St Lucia Estuary and stretching past Kosi Bay all the way to Mozambique. St. Lucia is an eco-tourism mecca, and centre point to an incredible 21 different eco-systems. Dense evergreen forests of towering fig trees stand in a lush undergrowth of ferns and wild orchids hanging from the trees. Palm savannahs with thousands of wild date and lala palms dot the white sand of the undulating landscape. Swamp forests with large raffias and tangled masses of greenery are home to myriads of exquisite birds.
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