St. Lucia
The St. Lucia estuary is the largest in Africa and boasts, among other attractions, the world's largest forested sand dunes, which reach up to 180m (600 feet). Swamps along the border of the lake, and "sponge" areas are fed by water seeping through the dunes.
History
St. Lucia was first named in 1554 as "Rio de la Medaos do Oura" ("River of the Dhows of Gold") by the survivors of the Portuguese ship Saint Benedict. At this stage, only the Tugela River mouth was known as St. Lucia. Later, in 1575, the Tugela River was named Tugela. On 13 December 1575, the day of the feast of Saint Lucy, Manuel Peresterello renamed the mouth area to Santa Lucia.
In 1822, St. Lucia was proclaimed by the British as a township.
In 1895, St. Lucia Game Reserve, 30 km north of the town was proclaimed.
In 1971, St. Lucia Lake and the turtle beaches and coral reefs of Maputaland have been listed by the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention).
In December 1999, The Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
On the 1 November 2007, the park was renamed to iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
