SWAZILAND!!!
Laura and I decided on Wednesday afternoon (no time to plan) to leave Thursday night to fly to Joburg, rent a car and make the 5 hour drive east to Swaziland, Africa. So that was our Easter plan...
We arrived into Joburg around 11 pm after some normal SA flight delays (or maybe it is just normal Kelly Baird luck), picked up the fabulous VW Polo (we so excited about the upgrade which we later learned we actually paid for...how is that for lost in translation) and headed to the Joburg GRS intern house to meet Katie and Ben. We slept a good 5 hours before waking up early Friday morning to start the Easter trek to Swaziland.
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| Buckley and the off-roading VW Polo (my next car) |
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| My normal shotgun posture |
After a 2 hour crossing of the border (imagine crossing the border with your whole extended family...well that is what is was...+ Laura and me) we headed into the Swaziland valley know as Ezuwleni.
Right
away we were blown away by how nice the roads were. There were no street signs,
but yet they had beautifully paved roads, with lights and advertisement
placements along the road. There was modern glass construction everywhere that
we had to ask ourselves…”Where are we?”
We
were headed to Sondzelas backpackers on the Milwane Wildlife Sanctuary. However,
the directions to get there were very unclear with no street signs to follow.
But, do not fear…we had church ladies to help us. It was Good Friday so the streets
were flooded with traditional dressed Swazi women and children coming from
service. We stopped to ask directions (because girls do that) and a grandma and
granddaughter were more than willing to help for a quick ride to town…which we graciously
obliged.
We
arrived at Sondzela, booked a night in a hut (all complete with a bird inside
that was busy building a nest) and made ourselves comfortable with our
neighbors…the warthogs. Then we did what all experienced travelers do…we took a
nice 2-hour nap.
Upon waking up to a beautiful setting sun we made our way to dinner
and wine (strategically taken airplane wine).
At dinner we met two
Afrikans-South Africa boys who were camping at the backpackers. We quickly
became friends once we realized they were just as sarcastic as us and willing
to share their cooler of beverages. We hung out by the fire, relaxed and
discussed why they wanted to get out of South Africa so bad (low job
opportunity post college due to a partied and near impossibleness of getting
visas to other countries). The guards of Wilmane Nature Reserve and Sondzela
hung out by the fire for a few to tell us how many wives and children they had and
to ask why we weren’t married (a very common question in Africa). It was so
refreshing to get to hear more about the culture of South Africa and Swaziland
from locals.
Swaziland is the last
remaining absolute Monarchy in Africa. The Kingdom is run by a King and his
chiefs. The current King has 14 wives and takes a new wife each year through
the “Reed” ceremony. So yes, having multiple wives is normal and encouraged
throughout Swaziland. Unfortunately this culture norm also has led to one of
the highest HIV/AIDS incidences in Africa (one in four adults are HIV +). The
King spends lavishly, while the country suffers from draught, widespread hunger
and a raging HIV/AIDS epidemic…tell me why a democracy is better again?
Saturday morning we woke
up, had breakfast and headed out to do what girls to best…shop and relax.
The road out was not as easy as the road in. For the life of us no one
could tell us which gate was for day and which gate was for night so we ended
up off roading for a good 45 minutes before we discovered a way out (had
to convince the guard to let us out the gate as opposed to driving another 40
minutes back the other way). However along the way we ran into these little
guys. Love them!
We drove to the Swazi
Candle factory which consists of a number of shops that are part of the World
Fair Trade Org. and work toward providing hand made goods as a sustainable
economy for local Swazis and most importantly local women. Needless to say
Laura and I managed to spend a good 3 hours here and a good amount of money.
After a tiring shopping
experience we decided we should drive around and see more of the country side.
We stopped off at a
popular concert/amphitheater venue called House on Fire. It is a huge venue
that has multiple restaurants, and open land to host festivals such as the Bush
Fire Festival (limited to 4,000 people).
From there Laura and I
made our way to our next stop…the largest golf and country club in Swaziland
(The Royal Swazi Spa Valley)…for a look around and a possible spa appointment.
And suddenly we had entered a whole new world…
We had found the high
society of Swaziland and it was refreshingly not just whites. It was very
mixed…something you don’t see in South Africa. Laura and I both happened to get
lucky with 45 minute back massages…you know after such a stressful day.
From there we decided to
head to a traditional Swazi food restaurant that is off the beaten path called Edladleni.
We invited the boys from the backpackers to join us. The meal was amazing, but
we ended up being the only restaurant participants due to the place being
technically closed for preparation for Easter festivities the next day. In the
pitch black we headed back to the game reserve (off-roading in the VW Polo hoping
to not run into anymore zebras) to sit by the fire and drink some more wine.
Easter
morning we woke up, checked out and headed to our next destination…the
Malolotja’s Nature Reserve and Hawane Resort. We had called and got word that
they were full, but decided to try our luck anyways. It was our luck day. The
nicest old Swazi man was the receptionist who didn’t want us driving around
looking for a place to stay so he offered us a lovely hut at the half the price
if we agreed to have breakfast and dinner in the on site restaurant. Done and
done!
Hawane resort is super quaint and beautiful…a perfect place to relax,
read and hang out by the pool…maybe even horse back ride. Laura headed to stay
out of the sun and I headed straight for it.
After 2 + hours
sleeping/reading by the pool Laura and I decided we should go on a 2 hour
horseback ride to the waterfalls…sounds lovely and painless right…
The ride started off fine.
I was riding Brandy (coincidence I think not), Laura was on Mystery and our
guide was on Surprise. Little did we know that the horses’ names would all come
true.
We wait a good 20 minutes before he is waving for us to come back
across the river. Laura and I were happy to oblige now that we weren’t going up
the steep rocky hill on horseback (and being fairly inexperienced at riding…a
fact they didn’t care to take into consideration).
We get across the river
and our guide says we will go a different direction. He proceeds to lead us up
another step, grassy hill surrounded by bull cows. Thank god these cows are
afraid of us because we are passing by their horns close enough for me to grab
on if I was crazy. At this point I am pretty sure the guide is lost because
Laura and I are in front leading the way most of the time (mostly because our
horses could care less what we were asking them to do).
We finally get to a point
where the only way down is straight down on a narrow path with a barb wire
fence on one side, rocks and dirt for the path and trees hugging us on the
left. We get to a point in the “path” where there is a huge rock blocking the
path and a low hanging tree hanging over the rock. Our guide gets off his horse
(not like horse is listening to him anyways…full of surprises) to lead it over
the rock and to be able to come get us off our horses to lead them over the
rock. Instead…Mystery decided to jump over the rock with Laura on its back.
Well good ol’ Brandy has liquid courage and decides to follow Mystery in the
rock-jumping stump. However, when Laura goes over the rock she pushed the tree
branch back which is perfect timing for it it smack me in the face as Brandy is
jumping over the rock. As I am half way over the front of Brandy’s head I
realize my only option is to stay on the horse or fall into the barbwire fence.
I some how manage to hold on thankfully. I right myself up once on solid ground
and see Laura and the guide staring at me in shock and asking me if I’m all
right. I say “of course I am” like it is no big deal and we keep riding.
I take in the beautiful
countryside while stealing “what the hell” looks at Laura. The guide finally
loosens up (probably because we now are on our way back to the resort) and
starts talking to us about “Obama land” (code for the US…hate it) and the
history of Swaziland. We make it back to Hawane 3 hours later. Laura and I get
off our horses, thank the guide for his superb planning and limp back to our
room (just a little bruised already) for some dinner.
After the horse back ride and a good dinner Laura and I read in bed
and passed out by at least 10 pm (minus the one mosquito that buzzed around my
head all night).
Monday morning we woke up
to check out of Hawane Resort and head to the Malolotja’s Nature Reserve (15 km
drive away from the resort) to check it out before having to make our way to
the border crossing. The Malolotja’s Nature Reserve is the last unspoilt
mountain wilderness left in Swaziland. The reserve extends over an area of 18,000
hectares in north-west Swaziland, making it the largest proclaimed protected
area in the Kingdom. The views are spectacular and the roads are ruff (good old
VW Polo). Laura and I were kicking ourselves for not having more time to check
out the land, but in general, we came, we saw and we conquered.
Sadly we left the reserve
and headed toward the Swaziland-South Africa boarder crossing. The drive went
quick minus Swazi police making their paychecks. There was no speed limit sign
yet three cops standing on the road were waving people to the side and giving
tickets left and right. Laura and I were just glad we had cash on us. It took a short hour to
make it across the border and we were Josi bound.
5+ hours later, some much
needed stops and a cool fire-burning sunset we were back in bustling Joburg. We
spent the night and headed to the airport at 4 am to head back to Cape Town for
a sure to be long day of work.
So far I have not come
across nicer people than Swazis. They have a beautiful country and so much
nature to share. Thank you Swaziland for such and amazing Easter weekend!
