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iSimangaliso Safari
| Area: |
Zululand |
| Length: |
6 nights; 4 - 5 hrs riding per day |
| Level: |
Intermediate/experienced |
| Price: |
From £670 per person (excluding flights) |
| Highlights: |
Beach riding | iSimangaliso Safaris are situated near to the stunning Lake St Lucia and specialises in privately guided horse safaris, offering two styles of safari, the Adventure Safari and the True Luxury safari. Both are tented camps, but use either basic dome tents or roomy colonial-style tents depending on whether adventure or luxury is your style. All safaris start in St Lucia, with transfers to and from Richards Bay (the closest commercial airport).
For either safari, a stay of 6 nights & 7 days gives long enough to settle into the rides and allows an opportunity to range further through the differing biomes of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (previously known as The Greater St Lucia Wetland Park) which has been inscribed on the World Heritage list by the World Heritage committee.
There is a maximum ride number of 6 thereby ensuring exclusivity and an exceptional guiding experience. A fully qualified guide, with a back up rider, leads each ride. Game viewing is good all year and on safari you can expect to see a wide variety of antelope, kudu, bushbuck, red and grey duikers, warthogs, bush pigs, wildebeest, hippopotamus, zebra, crocodiles and the endangered coastal oribi. There is also the exciting chance of seeing black and white rhinoceros, leopard, wild dog, hyaena and cape buffalo.
Children less than 12 years of age or riders over 100kg unfortunately cannot be accepted.
You should be secure in the saddle and able to ride your horse at all paces for you will be riding in an area of potentially dangerous game. The terrain varies from being soft and marshy under-hoof to firmer areas where you can have the opportunity for good canters.
St Lucia is a place of great beauty that deserves to rank alongside the great icons of the globe. Covering over 600 000 acres, the diversity of iSimangaliso is spectacular. Offshore, huge coral reefs rival the world's best. Dolphins, hump back whales, whale sharks and game fish roam the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. Onshore, giant leatherback and loggerhead turtles breed on pristine beaches. Freshwater lakes and rivers nurture hippos, crocodiles, pelicans and flamingos. Savannah and bushveld are home to a wide variety of wildlife including leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo.
This area is world renown for birding and there are many internationally important nesting areas.
Getting there
There are daily flights from Johannesburg to Richards Bay where you will be collected. We can arrange a private charter from either Johannesburg or Durban to an airstrip close to St Lucia where you will be met and transferred to the start of the ride.
Sample Riding Itinerary
| Day 1 |
Morning arrival in Richards Bay, where you will be met and driven to your camp in the St Lucia Wetlands (1hr). Lunch and settle in before meeting the horses for an evening ride and first view of the area. Return to camp as the sun sets for drinks, hot showers, dinner and the night. |
Day 2
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Early breakfast and set off to explore the reserve while the game is most active. Return to camp for lunch and a siesta. The afternoon ride is often at a faster pace and you may canter along the shores of lake St Lucia, before returning to camp for dinner and the night. |
Day 3
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Breakfast and maybe ride up onto the grass covered dunes where herds of buffalo graze in secluded valleys. From the tops there are wonderful views out to the Indian Ocean and you might catch a glimpse of a humpback whale in the far distance. Ride back to camp for lunch and in the afternoon explore an area in the south of the park where there are a number of pools hosting hippo and many different water birds amongst the open grassland. |
Day 4
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Breakfast and set off on a long morning ride, heading north along the edge of the marshes towards Lake Bhangazi. You may see zebra and wildebeest on the way, as well as a number of different antelope. Crocodiles can be seen sunning themselves on shores of Lake Bhangazi and there are also hippo wallowing in the shallow water. A bush lunch on the shores of the lake before loading the horses and driving back to camp for a siesta. In the late afternoon you may set off again to try and track wild dog. Dinner and night in camp. |
Day 5
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After brekkie you will have a short drive to Cape Vidal. From here you can ride north along the beautiful white sand beach towards Mozambique. You may be lucky enough to see dolphins playing in the waves and the tracks of turtles which have come ashore to lay their eggs. Opportunities for long canters before riding back to Cape Vidal and time for a swim in the sea before returning to camp for lunch. A late afternoon ride, perhaps riding to the mouth of a small stream on Lake St Lucia, a favoured nesting place for crocodiles and waterbirds. |
Day 6
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Breakfast and a final morning ride before your onward journey. |
Booking information: to talk to someone about riding safaris and holidays in South Africa please email us or phone us on 020 7622 5114.
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Intermediate
