ST LUCIA ESTUARY - EDUCATION

 
The St Lucia Youth Education Centre has been established to extend school children's education, by giving them an outdoor experience that allows them to learn about the environment under conditions wholly different from those of the classroom. The centre is situated at the Iphiva campground in the resort area of St Lucia, which is near the Estuary and adjacent to St Lucia town, which is 28 km from Mtubatuba.A visit to the St Lucia region offers a varied and exciting range of habitats to study.   

Rocky shores, swamp forests, grasslands, mangroves and many other ecosystems are easily accessible. However, to gain the most from your visit, the group should be well prepared. You should come to St Lucia with a study theme, one that will tie up all the different components. a linking thread that the group can follow and develop, even while back in the classroom. They should be primed before they get there, and have a basic knowledge of what they're going to study, why they're doing it and how they're going to go about it.

Some ideas for themes are listed below:
Food chains and energy flow
The water cycle
Nutrient cycles
Adaptations of plants and animals to'the environment
Adaptations to changing water levels
The role of water in organisms (land, fresh & saltwater etc.)
Man's relationship with the environment
Oxygen and carbon dioxide cycles
Why have nature reserves ?
Culture and the environment
Importance of wetlands
How do various ecosystems differ (land/estuarine/marine)?
Initiate your theme in the classroom so that pupils will have an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the reasoning and techniques of the study.
If you plan to use worksheets, I recommend that they are used back in camp as a consolidating effort and not in the field. Rather let the children use all their senses to experience the real thing and then do the writing back at camp.

THE CROCODILE CENTRE
This should be the first place that you visit at St Lucia. There are displays, dioramas, crocodiles and aquaria that help to explain the various habitats and the natural history of the region. The model and maps of the region also help to orientate the pupils.

THE GAME PARK
There are several walks through the game park that can be used for educational or recreational purposes. One can visit the swamp forest, mangroves, vleis, pans, coastal forest and grasslands and each habitat has its characteristic animal and plant representatives.Impala, waterbuck, wildebeest, zebra, reedbuck and duiker may be seen in the game park. Hippos are almost always seen in the estuary and sometimes in the pans. They come into the game park to feed at night. For this reason children must be discouraged from walking around the camp at night. The birdlife in the pans is abundant and makes an interesting study.
Care must always be taken when close to the estuary or the pans as crocodiles are common in the park. Do not allow anyone to walk or wade through open water.

THE GWALAGWALA WALK
This is a 1.5 km walk through the coastal forest which offers excellent opportunities for studying forest inter-relationships.Adjacent to the forest is a mangrove community, so a comparison of the two habitats can be done.The rotting vegetation and fungi in the forest make an ideal study site for nutrient cycles.
It is an exciting place to visit either at early morning or late afternoon when the forest animals become active.This walk can be used if you need to split your group when going on the boat ride, as both start at the same place and take the same time to complete.

THE ST LUCIA BEACH
Studies that can be pursued here are sandy beach ecology, dune formation and plant succession.Swimming at the beach must be well supervised, ensuring that bathing does not take place in rough surf, nor at dusk, night nor at dawn, Make sure that pupils always stay close inshore, as there can be strong rip currents. Swimming at Cape Vidal is much safer.

THE ST LUCIA ESTUARY
Mangroves, hippos, birds and other estuarine components are well represented here and may be studied from either the banks or the boat. The Santa Lucia launch goes about 7 km up the estuary and takes about 1.5 hours. Eighty people can be taken out at a time. No concessions are available, please book in advance. If you wish to study the estuary from its banks, look at the map to see where there are access points to the estuary. At the mouth there is a broadwalk that takes you across the shark basin and is excellent for studying tidal fluctuations in mangroves. Go there at high tide and again at low tide.
The mouth should also be visited to show the working of an estuary, i.e. the mixing of salt and fresh water, sea water pushing upstream, fish migrations, etc.
The estuary is also an excellent place to look at man's relationship with the environment.

THE BEACH WALK
From Iphiva Camp there is a walk that takes you down to the beach. It is about 1 km long and can be used to study dune forests and plant succession as it goes from mature forest, through dune scrub and ends on the beach.

MISSION ROCKS
This is an excellent spot for rocky shore studies. Plan your trip so that you will be at the rocks one hour before low tide. Check your tide chart and, for a successful study, spring low tide should be between 08:00 and 11 :00. A popular walk is from Mission Rocks back to St Lucia, about 12 km. Eighty seater buses cannot be driven all the way down to the Mission Rocks. Turn your bus around at the "No Heavy Vehicles" sign, and make sure that the bus keeps on the hardened road. If you go off the road you will definitely get stuck! From this turning point it is only ten minutes walk down to the rocks.

CAPE VIDAL
The marine reserve offers several unique educational opportunities such as snorkelling and dune field studies. Observing marine life underwater is a great experience for children and adults. The sheltered bay at Cape Vidal provides safe and clear conditions for snorkelling. The best time is just after the tide turns and starts to rise. The coldest the water gets in winter is 21°C so be sure to come prepared all year round with diving masks and snorkels. Other interesting natural features are the massive dune fields and the high forested dunes. These are good for studying dune formation and pioneer plants. Rocky and sandy shore studies can also be done here successfully. Apart from the marine reserve there are some other interesting activities that can be done on land. An 8 km trail goes through the dune forest and down to Lake Bhangazi. Birds, trees, spiders and forest ecology can be observed here. The coastal Lake Bhangazi is beautiful and exciting to visit but be careful of the crocodiles and hippos.

INTERPRETATIVE ASSISTANCE
For advice and planning your trip, please contact the Community Conservation Officer , St Lucia, Private Bag X01 St Lucia 3936, or tel (035) 590 1443 or fax (035) 590 1343.

CONCESSIONS
Concessions are available to formal educational groups for:
The Education Centre and other accommodation
Entry to Mission Rocks and Cape Vidal
Crocodile Centre (except Saturday afternoons)

THE EDUCATION CENTRE
Consists of two dormitories, each sleeping a maximum of 28 children/students, each with a cubicle for two teachers. There is also a separate unit that houses two, which may be used by teachers or bus drivers. Each dormitory has an internal toilet for night use, while a nearby ablution block provides toilets and hot and cold showers. The kitchen is supplied with cooking facilities, large cooking pots, some utensils, a deep freeze, a fridge, tables and benches. There are braai facilities available and charcoal and firewood may be purchased locally, and may under no circumstance be gathered from the surrounding area.
You will need to bring crockery, cutlery, food and sleeping bags. Malaria precautions are essential! There is a chemist and doctor, and several local supermarkets stock emergency provisions.

RESERVATIONS PROCEDURE
1. Bookings are made through the reservations office at St Lucia, telephone (035) 590 1340/1, fax (035) 590 1343 or write to the Reservations Officer P/Bag X01 St Lucia 3936.

2. Send the deposit reflected on the advice form or the full amount, to confirm your booking. Make certain you return the advice slip with the deposit.

3. The charges are contained in the tariff brochure.

4. Teachers/lecturers accompanying education groups are charged the same rates as the pupils/students, provided that any in excess of a ratio of 1 : 10 are charged full rates.

5. A refundable key and damage deposit is payable upon arrival and is not included in the accommodation deposit.

ON ARRIVAL

1. Keys for the centre may be collected at the main KZN Wildlife office, up to 16:30. Business hours are from 08:00- 16:30 each day.

2. If your group plans to arrive later than 16:30 the key may be collected at the Bait House. It is necessary to make prior arrangements.

3. In the event of a breakdown please make every effort to phone (035) 590 1340 and advise your expected time of arrival.

4. It will be necessary to sign an inventory of equipment in the kitchen boma and dormitories.

5. During the off season the gate at Iphiva Campsite, by which you gain access to the Education Centre, is not manned. You will be provided with a key. Please make sure that the gate is kept locked at all times.

DURING THE STAY
1. The teachers in charge will be responsible for seeing to educational activities and leisure time recreation.

2. Work sheets are available from the Natal Education Department.

3. The teachers will be responsible at all times for the discipline of the children.

4. The school concerned is responsible for all equipment. Any breakages or shortages will be charged to the school.

5. If your party wishes to visit the Crocodile Centre it will be necessary to advise the Crocodile Centre staff in advance to so that they can make arrangements for your concession to enter the building.

6. Parking is available.

7. Adequate cooking facilities are provided, but each party is responsible for doing its own cooking, serving meals and for washing up afterwards. Brooms, dustpans and rubbish bins will be found in each dormitory, and children should be detailed to clean up each day.

8. Litter bins have been provided at strategic points, and children must be encouraged to use them.

ON DEPARTURE

1. Please ensure that the centre is left in the same clean and tidy condition in which it was found.

2. Please return the keys to the office.

3. Any faults, omissions or suggestions for improvements may be drawn to the attention of the Officer-In-Charge, either personally or by way of a note. He will see to it that KZN Wildlife is kept informed.

4. Visitors must leave before 10:00 on the morning of departure unless otherwise arranged with the Officer-In-Charge.

REFERENCE BOOKS TO USE
Branch, G.M; The Living Shores of Southern Africa, Struik.
Bruton, M. et al; The Ecology of Maputaland. Rhodes Univ, Press
Berjak, P. et al; The Mangroves of Southern Africa, Wildlife Soc
. Branch, G.M. et al; Two Oceans, David Philip
Ashwell, A; Hands-on The East Coast Sandy Shore, Share-Net
Stewart, T. et al; Hands-on The East Coast Rocky Shores, Share-Net
Williams, T.; Hands on East Coast Estuaries and Mangroves, Share-Net
The Living Shores of Southern Africa is the most useful reference book as it deals with marine ecology, mangroves, estuarine and various other related topics. It also has good illustrations, etc. that you might be able to use for work sheets.