St Lucia

View Google Map stay at Stokkiesdraai (good budget accommodation)

If you’re wondering if St Lucia is worth the stop over,  don’t think twice.

It’s South Africa’s first national heritage site for the wetlands,  the best viewing site for hippo’s in the world, it sports an amazing wildlife and wetland sanctuary that rivals all other S. Africa safari parks, has beaches, snorkeling and a quaint downtown. Next to Cape Town, St. Lucia was my favorite stop on our South African adventure.

St. Lucia is a great jumping off point and home-base for a safari at Hluhluww-iMolozi Park, a self drive or tour through iSimangalizo Wetland park to see spectacular wildlife and even a snorkeling trip on the far north end of the park.

Beach and leopards in one day, is it too good to be true?

It might be, because you will have to get up pretty early if you want to see any of the big cats.

St Lucia is s a quaint tourist town with ample B&B’s, self catering apartments and backpacker lodges.  They also have plenty of shops, and local art to buy.

Supposedly the hippos roam the streets of St. Lucia at night although as the designated night hippo watch person I have yet to see one.   We have 3 nights left here so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

We booked with Heritage Tours and Safaris for both the wetland Hippo boat tour and the safari through Hluhluww-iMolozi Park.

Heritage Tours is a good company, with a  wonderful website and knowledgeable guides.

I was a bit disappointed though that through all my emails and phone calls stressing about booking our Safari they failed to mention we could easily book all our tours in their main office right in the middle of St Lucia.  This of course,  is what I would recommend you do.

If you do chose to book online be forewarned that Heritage Tours has a stiff cancellation policy and quite a complicated email system for booking their tours.   They would not allow me to book over the phone with a credit card, so as I mentioned above, simply wait until you arrive in St. Lucia to book  your tours.

As the sun sets out our window, St. Lucia offers a beautiful African sunset.  So nice to be here in person and not looking at it in a magazine.

A note on eating with small children in St. Lucia

There are several restaurants on the main strip that offer free childcare and playgrounds within the restaurant to entertain your children while you sip wine and plan the next day.

These are all over Africa so keep your eyes peeled. The kids love it and it is a great way to relax and unwind for everyone. They will even paint their faces for FREE!