Roberta Writes – Thursday Doors: Lodge Afrique, St Lucia #orchids #thursdaydoors

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St Lucia was the third stop on our recent wildlife viewing vacation. I am featuring it as my first Thursday Doors post because I want to share some wonderful orchids I discovered growing in the garden of the Lodge Afrique. We had two rooms at the lodge and they were lovely and comfortable. The beautiful garden setting was an added bonus. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2023/07/13/more-from-iowa/

The small town of St Lucia in KwaZulu-Natal is a hub for the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. The park and estuary are home to 1,200 Nile crocodiles and 800 hippos. It is the best place in South Africa to view hippos in their natural habitat. You will have to wait until next week to see the croc and hippo pictures.

Entrance to Lodge Afrique
This was our room with a large sliding glass door
This is the view from the reception front door through the reception and into the garden. I sat on the verandah and did some drawing on two afternoons.

The garden of the lodge was lovely. These are a few of the orchids I discovered in the garden:

My blogging friend, Marilyn from Serendipity: Seeking Intelligent Life on Earth blog, shares beautiful pictures of her orchids and other flowers as well as pictures of the natural environment and birds. You can find her most recent nature post here: https://teepee12.com/2023/07/14/nature-in-black/

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Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

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98 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – Thursday Doors: Lodge Afrique, St Lucia #orchids #thursdaydoors”

  11. What a fun trip Robbie. The lodge looks so inviting. I’d love to go there. The orchids are very beautiful! What is the weather like when you visited? I’m glad you and your family had a great time.

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    1. Hi Kay, the first two days were hot and dry and we wore T-shirts. On Sunday a cold front hit South Africa and it rained. The temperature dropped to about 15 C but that was much warmer than the rest of the country. There was snow in Joburg which is very rare.

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  21. Oh, my. That lodge looks like a lovely, restful place to vacation. I think this is the first time I’ve seen that type of orchid growing outside in a “wild” setting. They are beautiful. The red one — wow, what an orchid.

    Thank you SO much for the promo. I really so much appreciate it!

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    1. Hi Marilyn, I am delighted you like the orchids. I was also surprised to see them growing in this sort of setting. And it’s mid winter. The promo is a pleasure. You share wonderful pictures and conversations.

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        1. Unfortunately, drunkenness and hippos don’t mix well. A drunk woman decided to swim in the estuary at night. She was attacked and lost both her legs. She was very lucky to survive. There are a few such instances every year. It’s always locals who know better.

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    1. HI John, if you come to SA, this is a great place to visit. Lots of tourists and excellent sightings. The guides here are very knowledgeable which isn’t the case everywhere. This lodge is one of the best in St Lucia. It’s not a glamorous place, but it is very adequate and pretty.

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  35. The lodge looks lovely. I adore the lobby area.
    The orchids, however, are magnificent. That they just grow in a garden is fantastic. I’ve had orchids over the years and they are short lived and fussy.
    I look forward to your animal pics!

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  39. Wow Robbie, looks heavenly at the lodge. And the orchids thrive so freely there, as I can’t get mine to bloom again this year, lol. What a fantastic family venture! I’m looking forward to your photos. ❤

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  41. One a trip to Aruba… we visited a butteryfly house. I’m not sure what flower it was but I took a photo of this yellow flower in bud when we arrived, by the time we left it had opened to a full bloom.
    I do not recall if there were any orchids there. Your images are beauties!

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