"COSINESS, ELEGANCE AND AFRICAN RETREAT WITHIN A
WORLD HERITAGE SITE"

Kwalucia Private Safari Retreat is a newly build exclusive African Safari Retreat born from the combination of the Zulu spirit and the passion for unspoiled wilderness.

Kwalucia Private Safari Retreat is the first 5 star B&B/Guesthouse nestled in the beautiful village of St Lucia, the only private village in Southern Africa to be completely surrounded by a Natural World Heritage Site.

St. Lucia was first named in 1554 as "Rio de Arelas de Ouro" ("River of the sands of Gold") by the survivors of the Portuguese ship Saint Benedict. At this stage, the Tugela River mouth was known as St. Lucia. Later, in 1575, the Tugela River was properly named Tugela. On 13 December 1575, the day of the feast of Saint Lucy, Manuel Peresterello renamed the mouth area to Santa Lucia.
The 19th century saw extensive hunting for ivory, rhino horn and hippo. Fortunately, the ecological significance of the wildlife and fish resources were recognized and protected by declaring this area a Nature Reserve on 27th April 1897. This reserve included the Lake and some of the surrounding land. The original reserve of 36 826Ha is considered the oldest permanently declared reserve in Africa.

Today St Lucia is part of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, covering a area of 332 000 hectares . (Formely the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park).

iSimangaliso means in Zulu“Miracle or wonder” , the words used by uJeqe, uShaka’s herbalist who entered this region in 1828 to report seeing “miracles and beauty in the land of the Thonga”. Since uJeqe gazed upon it, the land that surprised him was voted in 1999 the first of the 8 declared World heritage site in South Africa by United Nations Educational, scientific & cultural organization: UNESCO.

iSimangaliso Wetland Park and within 75kms of it’s borders you may enjoy the following: