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A huge expanse of water unfolds before you, stretching endlessly towards the distant horizon. This is Lake St Lucia, the largest estuarine body of water in South Africa. Around this shallow lake a complex body of vleis (wetlands), pans, swamp forests and grasslands is found. The park, which extends roughly from Sodwana in the north to Mapelane in the south, represents no less than five different ecosystems. These include the lake itself, a marine conservation area, a wilderness area known as Mfabeni and Tewati, the reed and papyrus wetland of the Mkuze swamps and western shores and a fossil shoreline more than 25 000 years old. Iron Age people once inhabited this vast wilderness. The ravages made by the white explorers and hunters on the wildlife of the area had a devastating effect. At one stage it seemed that the damage was irreversible but in 1897 forward-thinking conservationists stepped in and the area was proclaimed a game reserve. It was the first game reserve in South Africa. Today the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park stands as a beacon to the efforts for conservation on mankind’s behalf.
