Hippo watching in South Africa's wetlands

The St Lucia Wetland Reserve, on the border with Mozambique is one of South Africa's best kept secrets.

As most visitors to the country head straight to Kruger and Table Mountain, this off the beaten track destination remains relatively tourist free.

The St Lucia Wetland Reserve, in the state of Kwa Zulu Natal is now a Unesco world heritage site and comprises five distinct eco-systems, from swampland and mangroves, savannah and sand dunes to beautiful off-shore coral reefs.

As well as 328,000 hectares of land, the reserve includes 280km of pristine coastline that is perfect for sunbathing. The Indian Ocean also offers some of the warmest swimming in South Africa (for those of you who have tried to swim in the sea around Cape Town you will know how cold it is), and is a prime location for dolphin, whale and turtle spotting, as well as being a popular big game fishing destination.

The highlight of the reserve however is the boat safari round Lake St Lucia, a 60km saltwater lagoon that is home to 1,000 hippos and over 1,500 crocodiles, as well as 526 species of birds.

The boats set off at a leisurely pace just before sunset, bringing visitors into close proximity with the hundreds of hippo and crocodile wallowing in the mud and sunning themselves on the embankment.

This is all very exciting but when the hippo open their mouths, bellow and display their foot-long teeth, it all gets slightly too close for comfort. However, there is a bar on board, so a calming glass of wine while watching the sun go down usually does the trick.

If you are short on time you can opt for a whale watching safari or scuba trip instead as there is a high probability that you will see hippos roaming freely in the streets of St Lucia town anyway.

Once it is dark, they leave the lake and graze on the grassy pavements and gardens in the town. Hippos kill more people in Africa then any other animal so it is definitely best to keep your distance.

St Lucia town is small and laidback and there are plenty of cheap places to stay and eat. If you rent a car, the driving is easy-going and relatively hassle-free, especially if you are coming from Durban.

For more information go to www.sa-venues.com , www.wetlands.co.za and for links to videos of the area see the official St Lucia website.

Frankie Elliott