ST LUCIA ESTUARY BOARDWALK In the morning on 4th March 2019, our family of three adults and two kids visited the St Lucia Estuary, now named Isimangaliso Wetland Park Estuary. We drove up to the car park, where there was ample parking space. There are a number of roadside shops selling souvenirs here. There were a couple of tourist buses too. We did meet quite few tourists on our walk down to the beach. The well-maintained board-walk runs through the rain forest with chirping birds flying about. It is a paradise for bird-watchers. We came to the beach after walking for about 1.5 km. We walked along the path made of floor boards enjoying the wide variety of fauna and flora on the way. The beach itself was clean with white sand against the backdrop of the ocean. It was not a spot for swimming though. The kids enjoyed the visit walking into the waves and running about on the white sands. We spent about 45 minutes at the beach before returning to our car. We then drove over to the area that had been set out for swimming. CAPE VIDAL - COLOURFUL MARINE LIFE Early in the morning on 5th March 2019, our family of three adults and two kids purchased entry tickets (R313) at the park entrance in St Lucia at 0700 and drove through the park for about an hour. During our drive through the park we saw deer, Kudu, bush buck, zebra and buffalo. We arrived at Cape VIDAL Beach around 0800. It was drizzling when we arrived with a cloudy sky. We parked in front of the filling station and ventured on to the beach. Some of us engaged a snorkeling guide, who also provided snorkeling gear and advised on safety procedures. He charged R300 per adult, R240 per kid and R150 for the snorkeling gear. Though the waters on the far side of the reef was somewhat rough, the snorkeling area itself was smooth and calm. There were others fishing on the beach. Though it rained later on, those in the sea thoroughly enjoyed their snorkeling experience having seen a lot of colourful underwater marine life. On the beach in a bill board, there were clear instructions on how to escape from a rip current if you encountered one! However, I did not see any life-guards on duty. Visitors with boats use the launching site here to launch their boats into the sea. There are Self-service log cabins too that could be hired on a daily basis. There is a filling station as well as adequate toilet facilities at the parking area. However, there is no cafe and there are no benches nor seats for the elderly or others who do not go down snorkeling. This was felt even more as it was raining quite hard.