Kwazulu-Natal - Elephant Coast

KwaZulu-Natal's Elephant Coast is an eco-tourism destination in every sense of the word. It's renowned for its wetland and wildlife conservation efforts, both of which are major tourism drawcards.

It offers a host of eco-oriented pursuits, of which Big 5 game viewing, hikes and walks, scuba diving, and sea turtle tracking are the most popular.

The Elephant Coast, KwaZulu-Natal houses two of South Africa's greatest natural institutions, the World Heritage Site iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, made famous for its rhino preservation efforts.

iSimangaliso stretches for 220 km from Lake St Lucia to the Mozambique border. It is dominated by Lake St Lucia and the St Lucia estuary with its network of coastal lakes, dunes, subtropical forests, swamps and wetland systems that provide a haven for indigenous flora and fauna, especially bird life.

The park features several reserves, including the St Lucia Game Reserve, St Lucia Marine Reserve, the Sodwana Bay National Park, Maputaland Marine Reserve, False Bay Park and Mkuze Game Reserve, all of which promise exciting game viewing.

There are countless ways to explore iSimangaliso, including hiking, walking, forest and dune trails, boat cruises, canoeing and scuba diving the spectacular coral reefs at Sodwana Bay.

Inland, the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park is a conservation marvel renowned for its efforts to save the white rhino from extinction. Today it is home to more than 1 000 white rhino, lion, elephant, buffalo and leopard, providing an authentic Big 5 African safari experience.

The Elephant Coast's magnificent beaches are another major attraction, not only to visitors from around the world, but also to hordes of endangered loggerhead and leatherback turtles that lay their eggs in the dunes here between November and January.

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