Elephant Coast gears up for busy holiday season
Busy season ahead for lodges in Sodwana, St Lucia and Cape Vidal.
THE countdown to Christmas madness and festive fun has officially begun as holiday establishments, tour operators and restaurateurs on the Elephant Coast gear up for the influx of visitors.
As the gateway to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage Site, St Lucia is always busy during holiday seasons and, despite ongoing service delivery issues, the forecast for this year appears no different.
Snorkelling at Cape Vidal, game viewing on the Eastern and Western Shores of Lake St Lucia, exploring the many walking trails on foot, enjoying a horseback safari or walking the boardwalk alongside St Lucia estuary are just a handful of the many activities on offer.
Further north in the wetland park tourists can enjoy the Big 5 experience in the uMkhuze Game Reserve or descend to the depths of Sodwana Bay while scuba diving.
Despite water problems in the greater area and Eskom’s countrywide load shedding, St Lucia is by all accounts looking forward to a busy season.
Lodges have reported a healthy level of advance bookings for the Christmas period and a campsite near Monzi is fully booked from 16 December to 10 January.
Other establishments are already reporting a good start to the season. While some establishments’ guests are allegedly more understanding of the water situation, visitors without access to water through tanks suffer.
All visitors to St Lucia agree that advance warning of this situation is imperative. That way they can prepare themselves and find out how their accommodation venue is dealing with it.
Almost all businesses in St Lucia are equipped with generators and water tanks to see their guests through the dry and dark spells.
