St Lucia animals

Sunset boat trip on St Lucia estuary

Our boat trip on the estuary gave us wonderfully close views of hippos, crocodiles, monitor lizards and frogs. Up until then, most of our hippo sightings had been fairly distant, so it was a real delight to see them properly up close in their natural environment. Our guide shared all sorts of fascinating information about the animals, the estuary ecosystem and the behaviour of the hippos, which made the whole experience even more engaging.

iSimangaliso Wetland Park

During our drive through iSimangaliso Wetland Park, we saw zebra, kudu, monkeys, buffalo and duiker along the roadside and in the surrounding bush. The highlight though was spotting a lone hyena — our first sighting of the trip — which was very exciting. Another memorable moment was watching a determined dung beetle industriously pushing its ball of dung across the road, a small but classic African bush scene.

Morning boat trip in St Lucia estuary

We loved our estuary boat trip so much that we decided to do a second one on the final morning of our trip. It was a completely different atmosphere from the sunset cruise, with the estuary calm and quiet in the soft morning light. Seeing the hippos bathed in the golden early sunlight was absolutely beautiful and a wonderful way to end our time in St Lucia.

Hluhluwe–iMfolozi animals

The wildlife in Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park was outstanding, with some incredibly close encounters that really stay with you. We saw a large number of rhino throughout the park, often surprisingly close to the road, which was a real privilege given how threatened they are. The elephants were just as memorable — huge animals appearing quietly out of the bush and sometimes passing very near the car, giving a real sense of their size and presence.

There was also constant activity everywhere we drove. Warthogs trotted along the roadside with their tails sticking upright, baboons and monkeys gathered around the hills and picnic areas, and giraffe and zebra seemed perfectly suited to the rolling landscape. One of the highlights was seeing wild dogs, which always feels special given how rare they are. The park had that wonderful feeling that around almost every corner there could be another memorable sighting waiting.

Beautiful art at the Hilltop Camp