The Greater St Lucia Wetland Park is a wilderness reserve comprising Lake St Lucia and its estuary, a number of islands, a surround of wildlife reserve and a portion of the Marine Reserve along the coast. It offers some of the highest and most thickly forested sand dunes in the world, but perhaps the most exciting experience of St Lucia is on and around the 36 000 hectare lake itself. A trip by boat on the lake provides encounters with pelicans, flamingos, spoonbills, crocodiles, fish eagles and hippos, amongst some of the more exotic of the area's inhabitants, and is an experience of a lifetime.