Swaziland
When your a kid certain names
stick in your head and conjure up exotic images, for both Sue and I
Swaziland was such a place. We knew very little about the place except it
was ruled by an absolute monarchy and was very green and
mountainous, an African Switzerland was one description we had read.
The journey started well but an hour
after leaving Joburg we hit a heavy storm with full blown
thunder and lightning which lasted for the next hour. An hour later
we hit yet another storm which stayed with us to the border, by now
we were steadily climbing so at times you felt you could
almost touch the clouds. We got through the border in just over an
hour and headed for Mbabane the capital, then we saw a road sign
which read "High Crime Area Do Not Stop" - such was our introduction
to Swaziland!
We were heading for a game park called Mlilwane,
we hadn't booked so we were hoping we could just pitch up. It was 7pm when
we reached the gate and it was dark, we passed what we thought was a
Maui campervan car park with at least 30 identical Maui vehicles on it and headed for
the reception were we asked for the camp site. The guy there said we passed
it on the way in and offered
to come back to show us the way. To our dismay he took us straight back to
the campervan car park, it seems the 5th Panzer Division was in town
and touring Swaziland en masse, in fact we were the only ones actually under canvass.
As there was such a high number of tourists the camp had laid on
a traditional Swazi dance evening so everyone was at the restaurant
enjoying the show. After putting up the roof tent we went over to
join them hoping mainly to get something to eat. Considering the
performers where made up from the camp staff and therefore not
professionals the show itself was quite entertaining. The highlight
being when the
dancers picked up an oil drum with their teeth and then got a German
tourist to try it, unfortunately the batteries on our snappy camera
were so low we missed the bit were his false teeth flew out!
The next morning began cloudy but at least the campervans had
headed off to pastures new and we were left in blissful isolation on
the camp site.
At Mlilwane you can either camp or stay in traditional Swazi
Beehive huts made out of reeds. These are peculiar to Swaziland and
are a very attractive dome shape but are also very dark inside as
they have no windows and the doorway is only about three foot high
so you have to crouch to get inside.
Mlilwane is a small but very nice park, not because it has lots
of game but because you are able to do self guided walks and what
game there is, is very relaxed so you can have some close encounters
with animals who normally shy away when your on foot. Some, like the
warthog and antelope even wander in and out of the camp at
their leisure so at times it felt like your in a Disney cartoon.
We decided to walk to the Bushman Cave where there was supposed
to be some ancient rock paintings. It's a good three hour walk from
the camp and for the first hour we were in lush bush criss crossing
streams and water hazards resulting from the heavy rains. We came out
onto the open plains and by now the day had become very hot. For two
hours we hadn't seen a soul, just us and the game, then we came
across a young couple from Israel who had turned back before
reaching the cave as she was feeling unwell and they had nearly used
up all their water - not a good omen we thought!
We continued to climb, on a couple of occasions having to
negotiate our way over stiles, not easy given they were
about 10 foot high, one side was near vertical and we were carrying rucksacks, cameras, water etc.
Finally we reached the cave only to find we had one more ladder
to climb and a rickety looking one at that. Sue wasn't too keen but
by now I was determined to see the rock paintings come what may!
The cave itself was quite atmospheric, you can camp there overnight
if you wish, but sadly the rock painting have all
but faded however the journey there and back made it all worthwhile.
Our next stop was to be Mkhaya, a private game sanctuary in the
centre of Swaziland renowned for its
work in Rhino conservation.
next
|