Makakatana Bay Lodge

The Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park encompasses 5 different ecological zones over an area of 36 826ha:

* MARINE ECOSYSTEM: Warm sea, coral reefs teaming with fish, whales and dolphins.
* EASTERN SHORES ECOSYSTEM: Lush forest on tall dunes, grassy plains and a variety of wetlands.
* LAKE ST. LUCIA: Africa's Largest Natural Estuary. Populated by hippo, crocodile and water birds.
* MKUZE SWAMPS: A reed and papyrus wetland.
* WESTERN SHORES: Dry savannah and thornveld with rich deposits of fossils.

Lake St. Lucia is the largest marine lake in Africa and is connected by the sea in the South by 21 kilometers of winding channel called the Narrows. It then opens up to the main lake that is approximately 40 kilometres long and the width is between 100 metres and 21 km wide. The average depth is about a metre and the expanse of water is about 300sq kilometres. Five rivers that feed the Lake, the Mpate, Nyalazi, Hluhluwe, Mzinene and the largest being the Mkuze. There is an incredible interplay between marine and freshwater life where in the saline areas there are mangrove swamps and the less saline areas there are lake reeds. The Lake system provides an important nursery for many marine species where eg. Fish and prawns breed in the sea and migrate to the lake to mature. In fact, the St. Lucia Lake system is probably the most important prawn habitat in South Africa. Lake St Lucia supports approximately 367 different bird species in 11 major habits, 1/3 being water birds.