Kosi Forest Lodge is the only private lodge in the Kosi Bay Nature Reserve – an unspoilt wilderness that is part of the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, now internationally recognised as a World Heritage Site. The 16-bed lodge offers comfortable accommodation, fine cuisine and caters for a host of estuarine, beach and wilderness activities. Explore this unique ecosystem by guided canoe, boat trip on the lakes, raffia forest walks or day excursion to nearby coastal beaches. Discover one of South Africa’s best ecotourist destinations.

Kosi Forest Lodge is set in a beautiful sand forest on the banks of the Kosi Lake. The thatched bush suites are carefully positioned to provide guests with privacy and an intimacy with the peaceful surroundings. The romantic en-suite bathrooms are open-air, giving guests a truly unique experience. Guests can relax at the pool with its unsurpassed views of Lake Shengeza.

Kosi Forest Lodge – Accommodation

Kosi Forest Lodge is located in a tranquil sand forest alongside one of the lakes in the Kosi system. Kosi Forest Lodge offers comfortable accommodation, excellent cuisine and is the perfect base from which to explore this rare ecosystem.

Main Lodge

A massive Zulu Podberry tree is the focal point of the main lodge with the lounge, diningroom and bar all opening onto a large, wooden deck around the tree. Kosi Forest Lodge takes full advantage of Maputuland’s sultry weather with most meals served alfresco - on the deck or under large Albizia trees. A swimming pool, built into the deck, at the lake’s edge is always a welcome sight. Candles light the area at night giving it a warm, romantic ambience reminiscent of wild African adventures of long ago.

Bedrooms

The thatched bush suites are hidden in the sand forest of the Kosi Bay Nature Reserve providing privacy under the forest’s peaceful canopy of shady trees. The rooms are raised on a wooden deck with a beautifully appointed bedroom, balcony, dressing room and separate bath and shower. The romantic en-suite bathroom is open-air in a reed-enclosed boma. Set in white beach sand and positioned under one of the huge forest trees, guests are guaranteed a truly unique experience.

The bedrooms have low wooden walls with mosquito netting and roll-up canvas blinds allowing for full views of the surrounding forest. Kosi Forest Lodge has become increasingly popular as a honeymoon destination. The honeymoon suite is completely private and allows couples to enjoy the serenity of the surrounding sand forest undisturbed.

Kosi Forest Lodge - Activities

Guided Canoe Trips

The best way to explore Kosi Bay Nature Reserve – an unspoiled wilderness with a unique ecosystem and a variety of wildlife – is by canoe. Discover the incredible beauty of this water wonderland as you paddle through the lakes, channels and Raffia Forest. Birdwatching is exceptional in the reserve and the lake is home to Pel’s Fishing Owl and the Palm Nut Vulture, the only fruit-eating vulture in the world. The lodge also offers guided walking trails through the reserve.

Swimming

Enjoy a day trip to nearby Bhanga Nek to swim in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and soak up the sun along this beautiful stretch of beach.

Turtle Tracking

Witness the culmination of an incredible journey as Giant Leatherback and Loggerhead turtles lay their eggs in carefully prepared nests on the Maputuland coast. The turtles swim the length of the African continent and return to the beach at which they hatched to lay their eggs. Turtle tracking is offered in the evenings from 15 November to 15 January. Every precaution is taken to ensure these magnificent creatures are not disturbed during the laying process.

Fishing

The Maputuland coastline is one of South Africa’s most popular fishing destinations. Fishing varies from lake fishing, to surf fishing and deep-sea charters in Mozambique are also available. Fly-fishing along the coast and in the lakes can be very worthwhile.  Guests must bring their own equipment and fishing permits!

Tembe Elephant Park

Tembe Elephant Park is only an hours drive from Kosi Forest Lodge. The park was established to preserve the gentle Maputuland elephant population, which suffered greatly at the hands of poachers. Game viewing in this 30,000ha wilderness is particularly good and there is brilliant elephant viewing from the game hides. Visits to Tembe Elephant Park are by prior arrangement.

Tsonga Cultural Experience

Tickle those tastebuds with a sip of iLala Palm wine – a potent brew made from the sap of this indigenous palm.

Horse Riding

Explore the splendour of the Kosi Lake system on horseback, with views of the pristine beaches and visits to the many hippo pools along the way.

Kosi Bay Nature Reserve

This unspoiled nature reserve surrounds the rare and beautiful Kosi Bay lake system. It has been incorporated into the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, an internationally recognised World Heritage Site. The 11,000ha, 30km-long reserve is a tropical paradise of crystal clear water, marshland, swamp and coastal forests that is home to about 250 species of bird. Kosi Forest Lodge is the only private lodge in the nature reserve.

Hippo and crocodile bask in and around the lakes and the reserve provides a haven for a variety of rare fish, flora and fauna. The Kosi lake system has long been regarded as the best-preserved large estuary system on South Africa’s Indian Ocean coastline.

Kosi Bay System

The system consists of four large lakes and a series of inter-connecting channels that eventually drain via a sandy estuary into the Indian Ocean. The lakes are separated from the ocean by a strip of forested sand dunes. The system is characterised by grassland, interspersed with lakes, pans, streams, marshes and swamps. The swamp forests found in this area are the largest in the country.

Mammals

The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) is the most dominant mammal of the Kosi system with a population of about 60. Other estuary-associated mammals include the water mongoose (Atilax paludinosus) and the clawless otter (Aonyx capensis).

Birds

There are number of rare bird species in the Kosi system, many of which are at the most southerly limits of their distribution and are not encountered elsewhere in South Africa. The prolific bird life of the system is essentially forest associated. Amongst the rare water/estuary associated species are Flufftail (Sarothrura spp), Whitebacked Night Heron (Gorsachius leuconotus) and the Crab Plover (Dromas ardeola)

There are nearly always small numbers of greater flamingoes (Phoenicopterus ruber) and lesser flamingoes (P. minor). Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) are regularly seen. The raffia forests are also home to the Palmnut Vulture (Gypohierax angloensis), a Red Data species, and the only fruit-eating vulture in the world.

Butterflies

A particular species of butterfly, a skipper (Parnara micans) is regarded as endemic to Kosi Bay. Charaxis protoclea azota is a Red Data butterfly species. It is a marginal species that occurs only in Kosi Bay in South Africa and is distributed from South Africa to East Africa

Fish

Kosi Bay supports a great variety of fish and other aquatic fauna due to the different physical characteristics of the lakes. There are 8 known Red Data fish species in the area, most of which have their largest known populations in the Kosi system.

Vegetation

The Kosi Bay area is of considerable botanical importance with several Red Data species found here. The swamp forests found in this area are the largest in the country and the giant palm Raphia australis, on which the Palmnut vulture is dependent, it as its natural southern limit here. This is the only area in South Africa where five species of mangrove are found, two of which (Luminitzera racemosa and Ceriops tagal) are at the southernmost limit of their distribution.

Tsonga Fishermen

The rural people in the area use traditional fishing methods to harvest the numerous fish species in the estuary. Fish kraals or traps, which have been passed down from father to son, are spread throughout the estuary, providing an important source of protein to the local people and a tourist attraction to Kosi Bay’s many visitors. Good management and the controlled use of resources makes Kosi Bay an excellent example of the concept ‘wise use in action’.

Turtle Tracking

Guests at Kosi Forest Lodge can witness the incredible act of Giant Leatherback and Loggerhead turtles laying their eggs. Turtle tracking is offered every night from 15 November to 15 January. These magnificent creatures return to the Maputuland coastline every year, having swum the length of the African continent, and return to the beach where they hatched.

Research has shown that the mother returns to the same beach and that eggs are laid within metres of where the mother emerged as a hatchling years previously. Guests can view the turtles as they are laying and every precaution is taken to ensure the turtles are not disturbed.

Turtles

There are a number of different turtles found off the coast of Maputuland but only two of these lay their eggs on the Maputuland coast: the Leatherback and Loggerhead turtles.

Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

This endangered marine reptile is the largest living turtle and can reach a total length of 2,1 metres with a weight of up to 365kg. Unlike other turtles, the leatherback has no visible shell. Instead, it has a carapace made up of hundreds of irregular bony plates, covered with a leathery skin.

Well adapted to life in the ocean, the leatherback has well-developed front flippers that propel it through the water. It is one of the few animals that feed exclusively on jellyfish and can dive up to depths of 300m.

The life expectancy of leatherbacks is not known, but first breeding is thought to be between 10 and 15 years old. Female leatherbacks come ashore to nest every 2 to 3 years. The females nest at high tide on moonless, summer nights and lay 6 to 9 clutches of eggs. Each clutch contains 100 to 120 eggs. Seven weeks later, when the eggs hatch, the hatchlings must make their way to the ocean quickly to avoid predatory seabirds.

Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta)

The Loggerhead, so named because of the shape of its head, is another endangered marine reptile. It is a large, brown turtle which can grow up to 1m long and reach a weight of up to 130kg. Its shell has scutes, which don’t overlap and are smooth.

The loggerhead’s limbs each have two claws, which it uses to hunt for crabs, mussels, shrimps and a variety of fish. Nesting takes place at night from the end of October through to January. The round, white, leathery eggs – as many as 120 in a clutch – are laid in the sand and then covered with packed sand.

It is an unforgettable experience to witness these enormous creatures laying their eggs. The hatchlings emerge from the nest about 60 days after being laid and it is incredible to watch the youngsters emerge from the nest simultaneously. It’s a struggle for survival as they dig 40cm to the surface and crawl, en mass, some 50m to the sea, where they often fall prey to kingfish and seabirds. The survival rate is less than one in 50.