In photos: St Lucia’s hippo celebrities
While tourists take excursions to see them on the lake, these semi-aquatic mammals wander into town every night
In St Lucia, hippos wander into town every night. Here, two young hippos are accompanied by three adults. Photos: Barry Christianson
St Lucia is a beachside town about a 2.5-hour’ drive from KwaZulu-Natal’s King Shaka International Airport. It is popular with holidaymakers, and popular activities include fishing, birdwatching, game drives, and swimming off the immaculate beaches in Cape Vidal Nature Reserve. One of the main attractions in the town is the hippos.
Lake St Lucia, South Africa’s largest estuarine lake, is home to about a thousand hippopotamuses (hippos). The large semi-aquatic mammals spend most days submerged in the shallows of the estuary.
Hippo watching on the lake is one of the most popular tourist activities.
Mackenzie Street, St Lucia’s 500m long main road, is saturated with hippo-related signage. Some signs advertise daily hippo viewing boat cruises. Others warn visitors of the dangers of hippos. Those closest to the town leave the estuary at night to graze on grass in and around the town.
Tourists often get a closer view of hippos at night when they wander into town than on their excursions on Lake St Lucia.
Hippos are especially unpredictable when they have babies with them, as they may charge to protect the young. In 2022, a woman was trampled and left in critical condition after encountering a hippo and its baby while walking to her accommodation.
A sign warns people to stay 30 metres away from hippos. In 2022, a tourist was seriously injured in St Lucia by a hippo. But despite the amount of interaction between humans and hippos, few serious incidents have been reported.
Despite the amount of interaction between humans and hippos in St Lucia, few serious incidents have been reported. The hippos take fairly predictable routes when they wander into town. Private security patrollers monitor them from their vehicles, keeping a safe distance. People who watch from hotels or restaurants are able to get an even closer view of the animals than they do from the cruises, much to their delight.
St Lucia is saturated with hippo signage. But tourists love it.
Hippos drink from a hotel swimming pool.
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