Swaziland Long Weekend-The Good

After a peppy 3.5 hour drive through the empty spaces (bar power plants and curious cops stopping our Uno) of South Africa, Friday we 4 travellers (Francoise, I, Kim (Canadian) and Jenny (Aussie)) crossed the border into Swaziland. Despite its 70% of people below the poverty line, 40% unemployment and highest rate of HIV infection in the world, the people seemd more chilled out than South Africa (lots of waving hello to us)...almost too chilled out. Directions, transactions etc are done at a glacial pace. Signposting is vague at best, utterly deceitful at worst. In the South-ish where we started the climate was humid, the vegetation lush compared to dry South Africa. Quite like NZ in places with its rolling green (except for the scale of course.)

We hit the glass factory and markets. Francoise got a rude introduction to the lengths sellers will go to and the crazy prices they will demand for mass prodused trinkets. Its a bit stressful when you aren't used to it.

That afternoon after long tedious map reading and back tracking due to aforementioned useless signage and locals laughing at us stupid tourists, we found our accomodation in the Milwane Game Reserve. Nice little traditional looking bungalows sans toilets...sigh. Still we had a good meal and some nice local beers by a fire, followed by some energetic traditional dancing by the staff.

Saturday we decided to get to grips with the local fauna.

'pull that warthogs tail!'

We went for a long walk (sigh so unfit especially in humidity) sniffing out warthogs, zebra, vainly searching for hippo, while avoiding a few fresh water crocs.

'but I want to pull his tail too...'

That night we had a nice candle lit dinner overlooking a waterhole eating (well some of us anyway) Impala stir fry...yum.

Sunday, we opted for a change of scene and went to Hlane Game Reserve in the North West. A lot drier and poorer looking than whence we came. Cows and goats all over the roads. But still people looked happy. Hlane seemed a nice set up even the skulls of rhino and hippo on the gates and we booked in a game drive and a guided walk.

On the game drive we saw elephant devastated forests, the back end of an elephant, 6 lazy lions, hornbill birds and this surly mother protecting her calf:

She did a bit of a charge at the vehicle so we stopped and waited her out.

On the game walk the guide told us to stand perfectly still if elephants charged at us and that elephant tracking was dangerous, but he would try to get us to see them. By climbing up tress, standing down wind etc we got close to a group of female tuskers but no good photo opportunities. Felt the tracking/hunting adrenaline...though in Swaziland Poachers or apparent Poachers are allowed to be lawfully shot on sight.

After more Impala meat (again not for all) to the sound of hippos roaring, we took the long, rough muddy drive in the dark to our camp site 12 kms into the inner reserve. Ulp. We almost drowned our little Uno in some huge holes, shook it up on rocks and get all the electrics on the blink. A grim drive in the dark. We got to our lit up cottage and it was nice, if as said remote. I thought it would be cool to do a solo torch walk from the cottage into the surrounds at night. I went 5 minutes and almost blundered into a man sized web with a palm sized armoured spider in the middle....the same type earlier a guide said kills birds and small baboons in its web. I ran back to the cottage...little did I know the trial that lay in wait the next day...

to be continued

Manfred (a small baboon)