Safari!
Meikyo
Phil and Sarah Tadd
Tue 27 Oct 2026 13:25
The town of St Lucia is about an hour's drive north of where we are staying at Zululand Yacht Club and is the main base for safaris in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and South Africa's oldest game reserve, the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. Elmarie, who greeted us when we first arrived in Richards Bay offered to organise a 3 day, 2 night safari and just a few days after arrival a group of eight from four boats (Meikyo, Ozone, Bella Vita and Vela) set off north. We arrived in St Lucia in time for a two hour boat safari before lunch. This took us into the estuary which is home to hippos, crocodiles and lots of bird life. On this day the crocodiles were in hiding.  We saw plenty of hippos including the group known as the 'Town Pod'. These animals frequently wander through the town of an evening so there are signs everywhere advising how to behave if you come across one  During our stay only one hippo came through town and we just missed seeing it, so this is the closest we got After lunch we were driven into the iSimangalso Wetland Park for a sunset safari. Lots of antelope, warthogs and a distant view of a white rhino  And sunset over the bush On the second day we were up early and met our guide at 5am for the 45 minute drive to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi. Before we got into the park proper we saw a troop of baboons and buffalos. Sadly neither of us had working cameras that day so our only photos are from our phones. Before we stopped for breakfast we saw a great variety of wildlife:  Lots of giraffes  Sarah's favourite antelope, the impala, were everywhere  More hippos and if you look just right of centre on the bank is a crocodile  Kudu  Wildebeast  And we watched a breeding herd of more than 30 elephants as they walked throught the bush then crossed the road in front of us After breakfast the temperatures started rising. It was to be a particularly hot day (41C) and all sensible animals were taking cover under the trees. We didn't get to see any of the big cats but:  Our guide found a pair of white rhinos keeping cool in a mud wallow  And apparently a zebra's stripes help to keep it cool so they don't mind the heat of the day For our final day we were back in iSimangaliso with the same guide, Arno, who was informative and enthusiastic making for a great day. We were only just in the park when we saw two bull elephants in the middle of the road. We stopped, but one was inquisitive and walked right up to our vehicle and looked into the cab at the driver. An amazing, but quite scary, moment  We were able to follow them to a waterhole and watch them cooling off by throwing water and mud over their backs  We saw a couple of these pretty little red duikers in ISimangaliso  We may not have seen hippos in town, but on our return on the last day there were warthogs grazing outside the shops It was a great short safari with a lovely guesthouse for our overnight stays and excellent catering by the tour company, and all a short drive from our base. We are now back to reality with Meikyo in the boatyard for some TLC after an year of amazing experiences |