My visit to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park in the St. Lucia area was in February 2020.  This is summer and off peak for tourism.   We were a party of 3, and self driving.   The small town of St. Lucia was tourist friendly, affordable, and easy to navigate.  We had come from the Drakensburg area, so it was a long drive to St Lucia, but the roads are good and this posed no challenges.  We had one experience of being overcharged for snack items at a gas station.  

The wetlands park covers a large area, and we visited the region over a course of 3 days.   The first visit was on the Hippo tour boat.   This was easy to book via our BnB host and pay with a credit card.  The boat tour people picked us up at our BnB and took us to the boat launch area.   The launch area was through a former industrial area, but we were on the water quickly and uneventfully.   Immediately, we paused to enjoy colorful yellow weavers building nests.   The flock was large and appeared to be thriving.  After the photos were taken, we headed upstream to the first pod of hippos.   The hippo pod was of perhaps 20-25 visible members, and the captain maneuvered the boat very close for many photo ops.  The second pod was about the same size- 20 or so individuals visible-- and at that juncture one more boat was on site.  We also saw a few eagles, egrets, and other birds, but the hippos were the main attraction and did not disappoint.  Yes, it's touristy, but we were fortunate to have the water to ourselves most of the time, and the close up views of hippos are unattainable elsewhere.  

Our second day included a drive to the beach and sand dunes, as well as a beach horseback ride.   The beach offered lovely panoramic views but the weather was too windy for a dip in the sea.  It's off season for the whale migration.  The parking lots are full of vendors, so beware the idle glance towards their wares or the random charge for parking.  There are a variety of invasive plant species, including goat head stickers, which necessitated shoes until the sand areas are reached.  Walk barefoot at your own risk! 

The last day was a drive through the park towards Cape Vidal to enjoy the scenery and wildlife.  The scenery was lovely, and the ecosystem tiers were obvious.   We did see wildlife, including lots of monkeys, some warthogs, cape bison, kudu, zebra and impala. Binoculars aided tremendously. Overall, though, the wildlife sightings were sparse for such a large park that has reintroduced large fauna more than a decade ago.  I would expect a more teeming ecosystem, given the circumstances and the protections that such a large park would provide.