St. Lucia Wetlands or Hluhluwe Umfolozi
 

We realize that the two are vastly different but we have to make a choice for one or the other. We're in the middle of flipping the coin and any advice coming from you experienced travelers is greatly appreciated!

Well, obviously this is just a matter of personal preference, and no doubt there are as many who will agree with me as disagree but for what it's worth, I've been to both and would choose Hluhluwe over St. Lucia only because there was much more to see when I went in 2006. We saw zebras and tons of giraffes and even 4 rhinos snoozing together, when we visited. Obviously I am motivated by photo ops and animal viewing-- depends how important that is to you.

In any event, I'm jealous and hope you have a great trip!

I too would choose the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve over St. Lucia. We spent a week in St. Lucia in 2005, and followed our visit there with with a three-night stay in the H-I Reserve. My preference is always for game viewing, which is why I would choose Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, although it is worth doing the 1.5 hour guided boat trip (Santa Lucia) in St. Lucia on your way through - great hippos and birding. Whichever you choose, be certain to visit Ilala Weavers www.ilala.co.za. Their baskets and bowls are stunning! Robin

What are your interests? If birds, St. Lucia. If mammals, Hluhluwe. Nice hint by Robin for a stopover at Lucia enroute to Hluhluwe.

We're just back from three weeks in South Africa, which included both Imfolozi-Hluhluwe and St. Lucia. (Trip report coming when I get organized enough to do it) I too would say Imfolozi. Although we loved St. Lucia, and adored the beach at Cape Vidal, Imfolozi is SO good for game viewing that it would be a shame to miss it. In three days there we saw lions three times, many many groups of rhinos, kudu everywhere, giraffes, and even one leopard.

We stayed at Mpila this time, in a safari tent, which was just magical. We liked it better than the cottages at Mpila, but we've stayed in them a few times, and they're ok too. We've also stayed at Hilltop once, and the accommodations there are lovely. The view from the restaurant is spectacular.

Robin is right about the boat trip in St. Lucia town. You can either take the government one, or one of several private ones. We've done both. The advantage of the private ones is, I think, that they go more often so it's easier to fit into your schedule. (I could be wrong about this... can't remember for sure.)

We have not been to St. Lucia, but we spent 2 full days in Hluhulwe Imfolozi NP in Oct. and saw many animals, especially rhinos, which the park is known for, and elephants. Whether to choose H I or St. Lucia would depend on your interests and what the rest of your trip itinerary looks like.

It is UMFOLOZI rather than IMFOLOZI. And if you will not be visiting a large herbivore game reserve I would concur that a visit to the UmFolozi would be the better choice.

The spelling was recently changed from Umfolozi to Imfolozi. I don't know why, but it's so. Check the web site or any of their official publications.

Celia

Thank you all very much. I am still awed by the fact that perfect strangers take the time to answer my questions, volunteering so much information.
Frankly this is our 5th visit to South Africa, the first one was in 1974. We made one small mistake this time though in not realizing that Easter in South Africa means a mid-season school holiday and therefore I suspect that many parks will already be fully booked. Your vote was unanimous for Hluhluwe though so I'll start finding accommodation quickly. Any information on Still Bay anyone? We thought we'd throw that one in just for the fun of it.
No idea what it's like. I'll report back when we've been there.

We spent our time in the Still Bay area in the De Hoop Nature Reserve, which lies ~80km to the west of Still Bay. If Still Bay is anything like De Hoop, it would definitely be worth a visit. De Hoop is amazing - beautiful dunes, spectacular beaches, snorkeling in the tidal pools, surfing, birds, turtles, lovely accommodation....We spent a week there while my DH was teaching a UCT course in the reserve and loved every minute of it. Actually, that's not quite true - not <i>every</i> minute. We were not happy when a troop of some 30 baboons broke into our cabin while we were at the beach and ransacked the place and ate our week's supply of food. :-)
Robin

A lot depends on a) your interests and b) the rest of your itinerary.

Without reference to those, I'd pick hluhluwe-imfolozi too. We stayed in the tents at Mpila back in 2004 and toured both parks before spending a final night at ubizane self catering rondavels just outside rather than pay the steep prices at hilltop. We had a great visit.

We did also enjoy 3 days in St Lucia but as this was part of a 9 week trip we treated them as rest and relaxation time, even though we did of course do some wildlife viewing too.

mkhonzo, Celia is correct about the name change to Imfolozi. I think it's been a while now since the change, although you'll still get about three times as many Google hits for the old name.

Ahhh shucks... I can't keep up... even Ezemvelo Kwazulu parks seem to refer to it as umFolozi...
I am now wiser, thanks all.

I think it was changed as it was not the African way of spelling in, Umtata has been changed to to Imtata, presumably for the same reason. www.kimssouthafrica.blogspot.com