The Butterfly House Tea Garden Grand Opening

Tuesday 27 March saw the official opening of the Tea Garden at St Lucia's Butterfly House. Invited guests, which included some of St Lucia's hospitality industry and residents, were able to sample the tea garden's delicious food and beverages, during high tea, as well as enjoy a guided tour of the Butterfly House.

View from tea garden, over vlei, towards butterfly house

The Butterfly House, situated on the road to Mtubatuba, between St Lucia and Monzi, has been in operation for some time already.   Not merely an income generating activity, it is used for environmental education, through its indigenous butterfly breeding programme, and is also an ecotourism venture.

Dwarf Crocodiles Stolen from Croc Centre

St Lucia's Croc Centre suffered a damaging loss yesterday, 26 March, when some of its Dwarf Crocodiles were stolen.  Highly sought after by reptile collectors, it is thought that the culprit/s have contacts within the reptile world.

These crocodiles are fitted with transponders and the Croc Centre's Conservation Manager Mark Robertson is "very confident that we will catch the right people". 

Community Integration Over Conservation?

Andre Botha GRAA Chairman

Tuesday 20 March saw day two of the annual Game Rangers Association of Africa (GRAA) AGM, this year hosted by iSimangaliso at Cape Vidal. According to keynote speaker Dr Ian Player, the GRAA is the “most important conservation group in Africa” with membership spanning the length of Africa and unequalled intellectual knowledge and experience. St Lucia News was invited to attend the seminar entitled iSimangaliso Wetland Park: Past, Present & Future.

While attendees included members from KZN Wildlife and North West Conservation,

The State of SA's Rhino – St Lucia & Beyond

During the darkest moments of South Africa's rhino crisis national government appears to have launched a news clampdown on this sensitive subject.

As reported in a recent Mercury article, “SA National Parks (SANparks) advised that it would not release any news on rhino poaching until further notice and that all queries would now be handled by Department of Environmental Affairs spokesman Albi Modise.

End of Irina – an Editorial

With the inability of Tropical Cyclone Irina to permanently open St Lucia Estuary to the Indian Ocean, many St Lucians must be left wondering if their one-time natural blue-water estuary will ever return.

After some research St Lucia News can assure you that all is not lost. We are, after all, coming out of the “dry end” of our climatic cycle and it will be at least another four years before we see rainfall levels last seen six or seven years ago. Moreover, it is during the “wet end” of this cycle, when the Kalahari and South Indian High Pressure Systems are at their weakest, that tropical cyclones too have a much greater effect on our coastline.

Umfolozi River's Shortest Route to St Lucia Estuary Blocked

By Friday afternoon, 9 March, authorities monitoring the opening of St Lucia Estuary had blocked the Umfolozi River's shortest route to enter the estuary, while cutting a much longer trench to the West. The end of said trench being left closed, presumably until such time as the river is again separated from the ocean and able to flow into the Estuary. 

Shots Ring Out in Garrick Laan

At 11.30pm on Tuesday 6 March residents in a building complex in Garrick Laan were rudely awakened by the sound of small calibre shots.  The shots, fired from the direction of two adjoining properties in Kingfisher Street, extinguished three of the five security lights, littering the walkway with shards of glass and plastic.

Two Small Streams Enter the Estuary at High Tide

Umfolozi River on left, looking towards the estuary

Sunday afternoon, during high tide, St Lucia News took a stroll, upwind and into the rain, along Estuary Beach to where the Umfolozi River meets the sea. Due to persistent rain for much of the day the water level in St Lucia Estuary appeared to have risen by 10 – 15cm since Sunday morning and no doubt continued to increase overnight as the rivers carry on feeding the lake.

St Lucia Estuary Stands Up to Irina

Tropical Cyclone Irina began her domination of St Lucia on Saturday morning with wind speeds of approximately 40km/h and steady, but not heavy, rainfall. Most of St Lucia's community, it seemed, were keeping dry and focusing their attention on the upcoming Super 15 rugby match.

Wind speeds and rain gradually increased throughout the day and night, culminating in flood-producing rainfall and steady winds of approximately 100km/h during the early hours of Sunday morning. Come sunrise, however, the rain had stopped and the wind had died down to approximately 40km/h, ceasing altogether shortly thereafter. This, it seemed, was the eye of the cyclone which sat over St Lucia for almost four hours during which a sense of calm took over the town and allowed its residents to inspect flood damage, both personal and public. At the time of writing (Sunday late morning), we are experiencing wind speeds of approximately 30km/h, increasing steadily, accompanied by steady, but not heavy, rainfall.

Come On Irina

While the St Lucia Community eagerly awaits Irina's imminent arrival, St Lucia News will be out and about, armed with photographic and video cameras, capturing the effects of the cyclone, during and after the event.