iSimangaliso Wetland Park is a huge protected area along the coast of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Province. The park’s centrepiece is the vast Lake St. Lucia, home to large numbers of hippos, crocodiles, pelicans and flamingos. Elephants, giraffes and leopards inhabit the grasslands and forests of the nearby Western Shores and Charters Creek areas. To the north, Sodwana Bay is known for its colourful coral reefs . The word isimangaliso means “a miracle” or “something wondrous” in Zulu .