Swaziland

Swaziland, 2009

In 1966 the British officially recognized King Sobuza as King of the Swazi and placed the control and responsibility for National land and mineral rights in his personal trust. In 1967 Swaziland became a self-governing protectorate. Swaziland gained its independence from Britain in September 1968.

Fast forward 40 years to our visit. Yes, it is a different country from South Africa, completely enclosed, with border control posts. We went in the “back door,” coming over the mountains from Barberton via mountain passes with the roads under construction. It was scenic and exciting but slow.


The previous picture shows the best roads we were to experience for many kilometers. Once we found the “tarred” roads we thought we were home safe. That was until we saw the signs posted beside this very beautiful bridge. There were two: they said “Beware of Hippos” and “Beware of Crocodiles.” No skinnydipping here.




We stopped twice on our way to the lodge. One was at a roadside stand to buy some roasted “mealies” (corn, somewhere between sweet corn and field corn, roasted over an open fire, coming out slightly charred and hard, tasting a bit like chewy popcorn). It’s an acquired taste.

The second was at a Swaziland decorative glass craft center. Swazi glass is well known and prized.


We arrived safely, with more stuff, at Reilly’s Rock Hilltop Lodge located in the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary. On our way to the lodge we were treated to views of Impala, Wildebeest, Wart Hogs, Waterbucks, Nyala, and Bontebok. I was assigned to take the definitive photo of a herd of Roan Antelope. You can only imagine my chagrin when my carefully chosen subject turned out (much later) to own a fine set of prosthetic horns!



Our three-bedroom cabin looked out across a valley and we could watch the animals feed across the plains. Very peaceful and relaxing. Dinner was served up at the main lodge. There was a brief show prior to dinner when the Bush Babies were called out of the trees and fed pieces of banana.




Following breakfast the next morning we arranged for a game drive. The only problem was that the Mkhaya Game Preserve was an hour’s drive away and we only had 50 minutes to get there. We made it and loaded up into the safari car.

Short sleeved shirts and shorts made for a bit of sunburn later, but for the moment the open car was great.



We saw this family of White Rhino trying to get and stay cool. Whites are grazers with broad, flat mouths designed for mowing the grasses of the veldt. Black Rhinos, on the other hand, are browsers and their mouths are pointed instead of flat so they can select the very best parts from trees and bushes.







Both species of Rhino are hunted, illegally, for their horn which is powdered and sole as an aphrodisiac. The head of Kruger’s southern region told us later that they had lost 60-70 rhinos recently. Really sick. We suggested painting the horns with cyanide. Also really sick.








Of course we saw elephants, giraffes and cape buffalo.
























And more waterbuck.













Becky & Kurt made a find at a craft market. They found this two-lion stool in use by a craftsman and had to talk him into parting with it. It badly needed cleaning and delousing but they were willing.


















We said goodbye to our new animal friends in Swaziland and headed out for Kruger the next morning. It was quite a drive, but more about that later.

Peace and love,

Floyd

Kruger Trip 2009

January 20th, 2009, we departed Cape Town for an eight-day holiday. Stop one was 1,400 kilometers away, two hours by air, the airport in Johannesburg where we rented a car for the drive east. Our first destination, stop two, was the town of Barberton, about 400km from Joburg. We spent two nights at the Mazwita Bush Camp, moving on across the border into the country of Swaziland, not a terribly long drive in length, but a bit dodgy due to road construction on the South Africa side and road quality on the Swazi side. Stop three was in the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary where we spent two nights at Reilly’s Rock Hilltop Lodge. Departing Swaziland by way of Jeppe’s Reef, we drove to stop four in Kruger National Park at the Biyamiti Bushveld Camp. Two nights at Biyamiti, then drove to stop five, the Shimuwini Bushveld Camp. Two nights then back to Joburg via Limpopo and Polokwane.

That’s the outline for the next series of journals from the other side (of the world). You have noticed that the schedule allowed two nights at each location. That fine bit of planning gave us an entire day to explore the particular area or rest up – this was a holiday.

Kurt is involved with some of the tourism planning for the 2010 World Cup in Nelspruit (near Kruger and Barberton) so is familiar with the area and has made contacts there. We stopped in Nelspruit to say hello and to stock up on enough provisions to cover us for the next few days, until we made it out of Swaziland and back into South Africa. Drinking water is not an issue in South Africa but we were not so sure about Swaziland. Since people are dying of cholera in the Limpopo area, near Zimbabwe, we played it safe and carried water.


Most of the South African electricity comes from coal-fired plants such as this one between Johannesburg and Nelspruit. The area is rich in coal and we saw many strip mines and processing facilities. Nuclear provides much of the power but more is needed and new plants take time to get online.







The area is also heavily mined for gold and diamonds. We didn’t get samples, but we did get pictures. More on that later.






It was a full day of travel. Also a day full of memories for us. Eight years ago, January 20, 2000, we were in Zimbabwe, sitting around a campfire, in the bush, with three well-educated Zim guides, being grilled on George Bush and his policies toward Africa. Eight years later the attitudes toward America and Americans is different ... and hopeful.

That’s enough for now.

Floyd