Description
You don’t have to spend your precious holiday time travelling large distances (at great expense) to get around South Africa from wildlife spots to beaches to mountains. KwaZulu Natal is over in the east, north of Durban, and it has such a diversity of first class experiences within its borders, that you needn’t go elsewhere for your holiday. This excellent South Africa holiday also includes one of southern Africa’s best beaches, literally just over the border in Mozambique.
The St Lucia Wetlands are one of the spectacular natural areas of KwaZulu Natal. It is now known as the Isimangaliso Wetlands Park, and incorporates land from St Lucia up to the Mozambique border (and out to sea too). The pristine ecosystems in this World Heritage Site include an estuary, lakes, coastal forest, dunes, swamps, mangroves, coral reefs, grasslands … the biodiversity is astonishing. Incredibly, this area supports more species than either Kruger or the Okavango Delta.
This area is also known as the Elephant Coast. Well you will certainly see elephants in one or probably both of the wildlife reserves that we’re taking you to. Hluhluwe Game Reserve is a ‘Big Five’ destination where you stand a chance of seeing elephant, buffalo, rhino, leopard and lion. This was, and still is, an important place for rhino conservation. There are 96,000ha of varied terrain, and it is much greener and lusher than Kruger. In terms of a wildlife experience, many people say they prefer it to Kruger National Park, as there is more to see in a more accessible and more scenic area, and far fewer other people.
Tembe Elephant Park is the other spot where you will find elephants, and in fact the ellies here are a bit special. They are some of the largest elephants you will see anywhere and have mostly come over from Mozambique. This is an excellent wildlife park, made all the better by the fact that it’s a community-owned reserve.
But you don’t JUST want to see wildlife on holiday do you? You want some other activities and a bit of R&R on a beach too. Here’s where your two coastal stops come in.
Kosi Bay is at the very top of KwaZulu Natal’s east coast (Maputaland), just below the Mozambique border. It is a World Heritage Site, and part of the Kosi Bay Coastal Reserve Forest. It is a beautiful and unspoilt area of four lakes, beaches, 3 swamp areas, sand dunes, and at Kosi Mouth it even includes the world’s only coral reef situated inside an estuary. The diversity of bird life here is incredible, and the area between Kosi Mouth and Bhanga Nek (about 10 miles south) has the highest concentration of turtle nests in the world. For centuries it has been home to the Amatonga tribe who have a unique style of fishing using reed fish traps. Enjoy a day or two exploring this incredible natural beauty spot.
Our accommodation at Kosi Bay is a rustic reed chalet camp which is a community-owned venture. It is not on the beach, but only about 10 minutes walk from a fabulous spot overlooking the beach. It is a basic but comfortable place. Each room has twin beds with linen and towels, and an en-suite bathroom with bucket shower and flush loo. Your camp staff are friendly and helpful, and you will be provided with good home-cooked food each day, such as BBQ’s on the camp fire, stews and of course, seafood. There is electricity from a small generator at night.
Whilst here you can go swimming, snorkelling, fishing, visit the traditional fish traps, try your hand at spear-fishing, or maybe visit a local school. It is a really fun place to enjoy for a couple of days, and in one of the most beautiful spots in South Africa.
We then drive you just over the Mozambique border (only about 25kms north), to what was rated as one of the best beaches in southern Africa in 2008. Your small Mozambique beach resort has just 15 sea-facing timber chalets. They have a covered verandah with chairs, two ¾ size beds (some have a king size double) with mozzy nets, overhead fan, safe, and an en-suite bathroom with hot shower.
Facilities include an open air restaurant, lounge and bar, a campfire on the deck each night, a swimming pool with loungers on the surrounding deck, and a PADI dive centre. It is a big diving spot here.
We’d recommend you include an excursion to Ponta Do Ouro while you’re here. It is a superb place to see dolphins and maybe even whales. If the dolphins seem calm, you may even be permitted to swim with them.
You can also go horse riding, fishing, sunset trips to a nearby lake, snorkel over shallow coral reefs, or, of course, just chill out on the fabulous beach!
NOTE: This KwaZulu Natal holiday can be combined with other trips in South Africa. See our list of holidays in the left-hand column for ideas. For example you could add on a few days in Cape Town.