Steve and Cathy's Blog

Hippos in Lake St.Lucia

This is one of the youngest towns in South Africa. While Sir Frederick Richards, for whom the town is named, established this as a makeshift port during the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879, it wasn’t much to see until 1965 when the South African government decided to build a deepsea port in 1965. Construction on the port began in 1972, was completed in 1976 along with a railway and an oil/gas pipeline connecting it to Johannesburg.

Its reason for being is to serve the extraction industries of northeastern South Africa. First of all, there is one of the world’s largest-capacity coal exporting docks, with room for half a dozen ships. Two aluminum smelters are there as well as a fertilizer plant. Iron ore and titanium oxide is mined locally, and there are dock facilities used for the export of wood chips and phosphates. From a purely tonnage standpoint, this harbor ranks as the busiest harbor in the Southern Hemisphere.

All of the area surrounding Richards Bay and its suburbs is part of Zulu Nation, and tourism is a growing industry, especially to view the extensive wildlife and to learn about Zulu history and culture. We are on the St. Lucia Wetland Park excursion to take a two-hour scenic cruise on Lake St. Lucia where we hope to see some of the 526 species of birds, as well as hippos and Nile crocodiles.

We head out of town on a very comfy bus and find our way to N2, the same important highway that runs the entire east coast of the country and connects South Africa with Swaziland and Mozambique. It is in excellent condition, and we are told that this emphasis on road maintenance is partly to provide employment, as unemployment in the province approaches 40%. Our guide points out stands of fever trees, so named because of its use to help ward off malaria. An extract made from the bark, quinine, was mixed with water and sugar to create the first India Tonic Water. The tree is unique for its very light-colored lime green bark.

For miles along this highway, we see large stands of carefully planted eucalyptus trees. These trees are harvested for paper (hence the export of wood chips in Richards Bay) as well as building construction. This is a big, big industry in the area.

Our schedule called for us to be in the bus for about an hour, but something interfered with that plan: our bus and another one running with us were pulled into the Eteza Traffic Control Centre, a weigh station (what they call a “weighbridge”) for trucks. It’s very odd that these two tour buses are singled out, but there we are. Now in the US, trucks roll slowly across the scales and, if they are legal, are on their way. Not so here. Trucks get in a line, inch up to the scale building, then stop on the scale itself until told to move on. About eight huge rigs are ahead of us, so we are in for a half hour process.

I am thrilled! I’m not kidding. I’m like a kid in a candy store because, hey, this is freight transportation. In South Africa, no less!! This weighbridge is brand new, and it gives me a chance to view the entire operation and get a good look at the enormous trucks used in South Africa most of which are bulk carriers. I take a bunch of photos to send to the grandchildren. Well, that is who I say the pictures are for. They’re really for me (J)

Everyone else on the bus is having a s**tfit because this will put us behind schedule. The guide calmly tells everybody not to worry, that the boats we are to ride on will be there. God, some of the people we are traveling with are spoiled, entitled children. We’ve seen this since we boarded Insignia. The least little inconvenience or change in schedule and some of them grouse and complain like 2-year olds denied a lollipop. More on this annoying behavior in later posts.

We get through the scale, and are on our way. Our guide tries to lighten things up by describing some of the Zulu culture. The Zulu people outside of the cities are herders. They raise cattle, and cattle are very important in Zulu Nation as a man’s wealth is measured in livestock. Zulu men may marry more than one woman, but there is a dowry to be paid – eleven cattle for each wife – to the bride’s family. Very interesting and such a departure from our culture.

Well, we turn off N2 on to a smaller road, and right at that corner is a large market area. All kinds of things are for sale, and other services can be purchased as well. Our guide points out a series of small tents on the edge of the property. These are barbers, and a haircut can be had for the equivalent of US$1. The men are all busy.

We pass though several small villages, and we have to slow down for speed bumps in every one of them. She explains that almost everyone in these villages is on foot and there is also a lot of livestock crossing the road.   Without the speed bumps there would be a lot of carnage.

We finally reach the park, which is now known as iSimangaliso Wetland Park (another example of replacing “colonial” names with native language names.) Because we are about twenty minutes late, we will have to wait a few minutes for the boats to return from previous trips. 99% of us are cool about it, but we do witness one particular woman who is completely bent out of shape (“This is disgusting!!!”). It is everything we can do to keep from throwing her fat a$$ in the lake. But I digress.

Yes, in a few minutes, we board a large, comfortable boat that will take us around part of Lake St. Lucia. It has a top deck that is open, and a main deck that, thank the Lord, is covered. We are also allotted two drinks on our tour – soft drinks, juice, wine or beer. Off we go.

The captain of the boat, who is also the guide who is narrating our tour, explains that the lake was once an estuary connected to the sea, but that it is now landlocked due to less moisture in the climate. They now refer to it as a lake system. The lake is only about three feet deep, and the water is a light brown color. It is an absolutely beautiful day to be on the water.

We do not see many birds at all. In fact, the wildlife is going to be pretty scarce today. There are at least a half dozen boats nosing around, but we see nothing for about fifteen minutes until, up ahead, we see another tour boat stopped to look at something.

We are coming upon our first group of hippos. A group of hippos is called a crash, bloat, herd, pod or dale, by the way. They spend their days in the water keeping cool, but at night, believe it or not, they go into town. Yes, the hippos have a night life! They go into town to feed on the lawns of the residents and to drink from and swim in the swimming pools. St. Lucia – both the town and the lake – is home to the largest number of hippos in South Africa; around 800 of them live in the area.

Apparently this is something to be very careful of. More people are killed by hippos than by any other animal. One person asks: “ How do they kill people?” Guide answers: “They bite them.”   They are apparently way more agile and athletic than you would think, and can travel up to twenty kilometers per hour in the water. They consume up to 100 pounds of grass per day, live to up to 40 years and weigh between 1.4 and 5 tons.

We observe one group and then move across the river because another boat has spotted a crocodile. The Nile crocodile is the single species living here, and there are up to 1,000 of them around. We see one, and he is half underwater in some bushes. That doesn’t discourage every one of us from snapping away at this gray hulk that really looks like a half-submerged log.

In our ride, we come upon two more small herds of hippos. They really don’t move much, and could care less about all the tour boats buzzing around. Once in a while we hear a couple of them bleating, and occasionally one will look at us. They really are interesting critters with quite the interesting lifestyle. Sixteen hours a day lying in the water; eight hours a day partying in St. Lucia.

We start to head back to the dock, and the weather gets prettier by the minute. The bright blue skies laced with white clouds offset by the light brown water and green vegetation on the banks. What a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.

We get back and board the buses. Steve falls completely asleep for the entire ride back, and misses another trip through the Weighbridge. Damn! Back to the ship in time for a quick lunch at Waves (the ship also leaves the Terrace Café open for us if we wish to eat there. Then it’s nap time, of course. The ship leaves Richards Bay as we snooze.

We have dinner that evening with Mary Lou and John from West Hartford and the delightful Karen Boyle from Niantic. We eat at the Terrace Café out on the stern. It’s a delightful time. They leave for the entertainment and we leave for … well, you know. It was another fun and interesting day – both the weigh station adventure (Steve only – and maybe Cathy a little) and hippo viewing on Lake St. Lucia.