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Published: April 8th 2016
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Hadeda Ibis
St Lucia Estuary Leisurely day today, with an 8:30 departure to the
St Lucia Estuary, about an hour’s drive. The scenery consisted of pineapple plantations, the thick natural forest of a public reserve, and eucalyptus commercial forests (they are eradicating eucalyptus from public land because it is an invasive and water hungry species). St Lucia is a wildlife reserve, particularly protecting hippos – to the extent that the animals are allowed to wander into town (
Mtubatuba) at night. Hippos can travel thirty miles on land to feed, returning to the water in the day.
Boat companies take tourists slowly along the
mangrove and reed shores. The estuary was naturally cut off from the sea in 2007, and the plants have adapted to the gradual loss of salt; however, the
tiger shark (we didn’t see one) cannot withstand water any fresher, so the natural barrier is gradually being reduced by the Park in the expectation that the plants will adapt again.
Although not obviously plentiful, the birds were pretty, and the boat was good at bringing us close (very quiet engine, often shut off). Hopefully I have good pictures of a
Yellow Weaver (very skittish), a black and white
Wooly Necked Stork (didn’t move at all), a
Goliath Heron (1.5m
tall), and a patient
Giant Kingfisher that daily waits for the boat to flush out fish to catch. The greatest attraction, nevertheless, are the hippo pods. The estuary is only about three to four feet deep. The pods range from about fifteen to thirty hippos. For amateurs, they are impossible to count because they make a tight formation and even lie on top of parts of each other. This protects the young, which are kept in the middle. The only predator, and then only of the young, is the
Nile Crocodile (fresh water). We saw one, and then a pair of these crocs, which were much smaller than the ones we had seen at Mlilwane.
The two-hour cruise was over too soon. We drove a short way to the town, Mtubatuba, where were had free time for shopping at the market and tourist shops. This is a holiday destination for many South Africans and a highlight for tours like ours.
The market displayed avocados and mangoes of astonishing size. They were sold in bags – four huge mangoes or a dozen avocados. I wanted a banana and started to buy one; Jack thought he would have one also, and ended
Pied Kingfisher
St Lucia Estuary by buying both for 50 Rand (50 cents), no doubt a great markup for the vendor. Although tiny, they were beautifully sweetly flavoured! We looked at the crafts, although not too closely because these market ladies were fairly aggressive. Then I saw a pretty mobile arrangement of carved birds – not sophisticated, but fun.
I was indeed ready for lunch – in the
Reef and Dune Pub. Duane had ordered three pizzas, including a cheese-less one for my diet, calamari, Greek salad, and French fries. I ordered a draft Castle and thoroughly enjoyed it.
In response to someone’s query about the Indian Ocean, Duane drove us for about ten minutes to a long and deep, fine sand beach. We headed for the water, and those of us with sandals waded. The rollers were very powerful, splashing higher than even six-foot Norm (whose 78
th birthday is today). We took pictures and revelled in the exotic salt air.
The way back to the hotel was silent, many of us nodding off. For my couple of hours “at leisure”, I swam alone in the pool surrounded by people who preferred a drink. There was also a 105-person bus tour here, a bonus event
Ingwe Beach, Indian Ocean
Salt air gulped with every breath! for Unilever South Africa staff.
Dinner: salads, roast lamb, pasta primavera, zucchini, glass of white wine, shot of Amarula liqueur to celebrate Norm’s birthday
Map of trip to date.
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Isabel Gibson
non-member comment
Estuaries are grand!
As are your photos! I especially like the kingfisher - clearly recognizable as being in that family, yet so different from the ones here - and the croc and the hippos. It almost entices me . . .