Description

Elephant Coast House offers 4-star bed & breakfast accommodation overlooking the coastal dune forest of The Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park. An ideal base from which to explore the Elephant Coast.

Elephant Coast House is a renowned accommodation establishment in The Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park World Heritage Site. St. Lucia, the town, is the southern most entrance to the St. Lucia Wetlands system. St. Lucia is well situated to act as a hub to the amenities of the Elephant Coast.

The spacious guesthouse with creature comforts in mind is situated on the verge of St. Lucia Nature Reserve and Coastal Dune Forests.

The rooms lead out through two large wooden doors opening on to a patio which overlooks the coastal dune forest of the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park, the garden and pool area. Roaming hippo, bushbuck and red duiker to mention a few frequent the lawn below. Your morning wake up call will be from the Avis flocking together or perhaps the call of the Fish Eagle in their natural surroundings.

Elephant Coast Bed and Breakfast is a renowned accommodation establishment in The Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park World Heritage site. St. Lucia Estuary, the town, is the southern most entrance to the St. Lucia Wetlands system. The Elephant Coast Bed and Breakfast is a spacious guesthouse with creature comforts in mind and is situated on the verge of St. Lucia Game Park Coastal Dune Forests. St. Lucia is well situated to act as a hub to the amenities of the Elephant Coast.

• Daily hippo and crocodile launch tours on the St. Lucia Lake system.
• Seasonal Whale Watching and Marine Turtle Nesting Tours.
• St. Lucia is a Bird watcher's paradise with over 500 species amongst the coastal dune forest and wetlands.
• Snorkel in the warm Indian Ocean amidst the subtropical coral reefs.
• Visit the Big Five Game Reserves around St. Lucia.
• Self Guided Walking Trails

Attractions

St Lucia Beach

The First shipwrecked mariners called the stretch of beach, "Rio de la Medaos do Oura" (River of the Dow's of Gold). The survivors of the Portuguese Ship Saint Benedict, was awe-struck by the beautiful golden beaches embraced by ancient vegetated sand dunes on the west and the deep blue warm Indian ocean in the east. Towering over this magnificent coastline is 180-meter high-vegetated sand dunes that started their painstakingly slow formation 25 000 years ago. Walking along this coastline in the after noon shadows of these ever growing giants and drenching your soul with peace and tranquility rejuvenate the mind and soul. The Elephant coast is the only remaining coastline along the Southern Africa coast where the encroachment of humans is restricted to development behind the Coastal Dune Range.

Turtle Nesting

This life altering experience leaves a massive sense of what maternity is all about. Share the space with this living fossil while she is bearing the weight of ensure the best success of survival of her offspring while they have to breed and hatch in the absence of motherly love and care. With all the ancient wisdom programmed into her DNA strand she seeks the most suitable spot not only calculating average nest temperature, potential looting from opportunistic scavengers but also the weather pattern for the next sixty days. She struggles up the chosen beach and search with the underside of her chin the most probable nesting site where she starts the painstakingly slow process of excavating the nest. When this process is concluded she drops the eggs into the nest. At this point she in a deep trance and spectators are allowed to move closer under strict guidance of the tour leader. This is an experience that can not be missed. Go to Top

Every year from October to April the next year, with the high season being November, December, and January.

St Lucia Estuary

St. Lucia Estuary is the 21-kilometer winding channel that connects the ocean with the St. Lucia Lake System. The first 3 to 4-kilometers curve around the town of St. Lucia and the banks of the eastern shores of the Estuary are accessible to visitors. Since the sun sets in the West, Elephant Coast sunsets are most dramatic over the St. Lucia Estuary. Catching up on some quality time with Wilbur Smith, Honeymoon Bend is the venue. With Kakuei carpeted banks, accompanied by Hippos and Crocodiles resting on the Mangrove covered fossilized oyster bed Islands, this is a great setting for relaxing and is the place to picnic. If Sundowners on a sundeck is more your style, then the St. Lucia Ski-Boat club is your venue. Watch over Crocodiles basking in the sun while Mother Hippo's are rearing the young and adult Hippo's resolving domestic disputes.

Crocodile Center

The St Lucia crocodile centre is the ideal place to kill some time if the beach is getting a bit tiresome as it is a great place for the whole family to come and enjoy. The centre has a large cross-section of crocodile species (although only Nile crocodiles are endemic to South Africa) as well as a variety of snakes on display. The crocodile centre also boasts the Zulu and I restaurant for well-priced meals. 

Mission Rocks

Mission Rocks are 13 km due north of St. Lucia. These rocky shores consist of carbonated sand stone rock that is a perfect example of wave cut platform with towering dunes over looking the peaceful shore break. With a deference of about 2-meters between mean low and mean high tide a great deal of rock pools are exposed during spring-low tide. Early in the morning a home sick traveler can sit on the rock pinnacles and ponder while the dolphins and marine turtles frolic in the break. The Loggerhead turtle feed on the crustacean's lining the shore break. The Dolphins indulge in water aerobics attempting to out perform one another with their acrobatic maneuvers.

Cape Vidal

Nature Reserve

Teeming with wild life, The Elephant Coast offers more than just The Big 5, this area has drawn "Big White Hunters" from Europe and abroad since the early 1700's. Big 5 is a hunting nomenclature that was adopted by a group of people that where brave enough to hunt Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Rhino and Buffalo with the short range half a ponder musket of times gone by.

The Hluhluwe and Imfolozi Game Reserves rendered a save haven to animals prior to the reign of the mighty Zulu King Shaka. This areas where declared sacred hunting ground by the Zulu Nation and only the King could authorize hunting at this pristine venue. Host to the Big 5, Hluhluwe / Imfolozi Game Reserve is world renowned for nurturing the Black and White Rhino back from the verge of extinction.

Viewing Safari's are conducted on an open vehicle to these reserves from St. Lucia to experience the gem of The Elephant Coast. Home to endangered species, like the Black Rhino, Cheetah, African Wild Dog, Nile Crocodile and more, this drive is a soul enriching experience.

Nature Drives and Guided Tours

Departure from well deserved sleep in the morning, before sunrise on an open game drive vehicle taking to veldt to explore the untamed wild, in hot pursuit of the big five. With a trained tour guide to assist you and answer any questions you may have, the drive becomes so much more majestic and one can enjoy the surroundings and wonders of nature much more. The open sided vehicle also makes it easier for viewing ones surroundings and its size also makes one feel more reassured making your day less stressful.St, Lucia Estuary in the heart of all the major attractions of the Elephant Coast, from game drives, whale watching, turtle nesting tours, kayaking, cultural villages and all the splendors of the Wetlands. For a relaxing fun filled day out hop on to one of the guided activities, relax and enjoy local lore.

Walking Trails

For nature lovers and bird watchers there are a number of walking trails (of which St Lucia game park and Gwalagwala trail are just two) for you to take, these trails wind through a number of different vegetation's and habitats. Some of the habitats you will be walking through are grasslands, marsh (during the rainy season the soil soaks up the water and releases it slowly through out the year). Mangroves, Swamp forest (only a small community of these habitats still exist in the area along the marshes and streams) and dune forest.
When walking on the trails one has the opportunity to see a number of animals including buck, hippo (in the water) and bushpig are just a few. There are various plant species to have a look at.

Bird Watching

More than 430 migrating bird species call the Eastern Shores of Lake St Lucia their home over the South African summer, this makes it the ideal spot for any bird lover to come and indulge in the wide variety to be spotted. The return of spring is earmarked by the return of the European Swallow's and Beaters. The swarming birds appear out of no were the morning of spring.

Duma Zulu

Loosely translated this means "Thundering People of Heaven". Hunted by cannibals, war lords and slave traders, the remainder of the scattered Nguni Tribes where united under one Nation and they adopted the surname of Shaka's father "kwaBekki Zulu". This is the mythical era of Zulu history under the majestic reign of the mighty warrior King Shaka. To be transported to the realm of Sangomas predicting the future and people fearing witchcraft, a half son struggling for recognition and a nation filled with romance, one must visit Duma Zulu.

Duku Duku

Visit the mythical township of Duku-Duku, training grounds of the Sangoma, and experience the cultural interaction between the ancient living religion of the Zulu (people of heaven) against the backdrop of a Christian community. The name Duku-Duku was given to the bush, where King Shaka hid away his armory, because of its denseness. Duku, meaning twig, has the same double meaning as Mtubatuba. To Tuba is to fondle little girls. To TubaTuba is to over do it and the chieftain of the kwaMsane region could not contain himself hence the name of the railway station today.

The Wetlands

The Eastern Shores of Lake St. Lucia, better known as The Wetlands, is home to four of the Big 5 and offer a stop over to more than 430 species of migrating birds. The wetlands system is the result of high rainfall on the vegetated dune range with this rainwater percolating into the low-lying grasslands. This resulted into the forming of Lake Bangazi South one of the many spectacular views while visiting the Wetlands. A visit to the look out at mount Tabor renders a splendid view of the low-lying Wetlands such as "bokkie" valley, Catalina Bay and Brodies crossing.
With the Rhino and buffalo frequenting the grasslands and Elephants roving the riverine forests around Mfazana pans, it is advisable to keep in the vehicles and stay on the designated picnic sites. Frequenting the Wetlands are breeding pairs of Saddle billed Stork, Woolly Neck Stork, Nerina Trogan, hordes of White Face Duck and many more. Hiding in the under growth of the Coastal Dune forest are the shy and endangered Red Duiker. Grazing with mommy early in the morning, true Bambie style, is the Bushbuck.

Monzi Golf Course and Sugar Estates

TGCSA Star Grading

Facilities

• air conditioner in rooms
• bed and breakfast
• dinner and lunch on request
• en-suite rooms
• game parks nearby
• golf course nearby
• phone in office
• satellite TV in lounge
• scuttle services
• squash and tennis court nearby
• snorkeling beaches nearby
• swimming pool