ISimangaliso Wetland Park, Nature reserve and World Heritage Site in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa
iSimangaliso Wetland Park is a large protected area along South Africa's eastern coast, containing coral reefs, wetlands, forests, and coastal dunes. The area brings together several different habitats that work together as one important ecosystem.
The bay was home to the Tsonga people and their fish kraals until 1895, when the St. Lucia Game Reserve was proclaimed 30 km north of the town. St. Lucia had been named Santa Lucia on 13 December 1575 by Manuel Peresterello and proclaimed a British township in 1822. The park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 1999, with Nelson Mandela as guest of honour, and renamed iSimangaliso on 1 November 2007.
The name isimangaliso is Zulu for "a miracle" or "something wondrous". It comes from a saying about Ujeqe, an official at King Shaka's court who was sent to Thonga (Maputaland) and described what he saw there as a miracle. The bay was the home of the Tsonga Tembe people, whose capital stood on St. Lucia Bay; the missionary Henri-Alexandre Junod mapped their territory in the early 1890s.
You can explore the area through guided boat tours, game drives, and hiking trails, with the town of St. Lucia as the main entrance. It helps to visit with a guide who can show you the different habitats and wildlife as you move through the park.
Lake St. Lucia at the heart of the park is South Africa's largest estuary and is home to hundreds of hippos and Nile crocodiles. These animals live here in such numbers that you can often spot them from the boat tours.
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