An Unexpected Country

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? Well, we had no idea we were going here. We decided that, although our stay at Kruger was stupendous, the park was too big to see the rest of it (hours and hours of driving) and it would be nice to see a bit more of the surrounding area. We headed into another country. This country is surrounded on three quarters of its almost circular boundary by South Africa, and by Mozambique on the rest. It is the only absolute monarchy in Africa. It is mountainous and lush, the major industries here consisting mostly of logging and mining, and minimal tourism (no one appears to have “discovered” this gorgeous place). This is Swaziland.

We read in the guidebook that the biggest concern we should have in Swaziland is the roads. Although the road conditions were excellent, the drivers here are notorious, and they are very lax with drinking and driving. The scariest statistic we heard is that 2 of the last 4 Ministers of Transport for Swaziland died in traffic accidents. 15 minutes into the country, we were stopped by an accident. We couldn’t figure out where the truck involved was trying to go. We proceeded with caution.

Our first stop was to see ancient rock art, painted on the wall and ceiling of a cave. The short hike to the cave was through beautiful wild flowers, with vistas of an azure river running through a tropical valley. Our guide, Gabby, told us the paintings were 4000 and 400 years old. She was unable to understand our question asking which parts were 4000 and which were 400, replying that they were all very old. Did this mean they were unclear about the actual age of the drawings? Carbon dating is a bit more accurate than that, right? Upon reading the literature, the 4000 year number was repeated, so it might just have been a problem with translation. When we signed the guest registry, we noted we were the only visitors for the day or the proceeding day. A total of 11 people visited in January of 2008. Yep, Swaziland is apparently not swarming with tourists.

Next, we arrived at Malolotja National Park. We paid the absurdly low entrance fee and proceeded into some of the most beautiful scenery we have ever seen. These blesboks were everywhere, but much more wary of us than the animals we had encountered in either Kruger or in Tanzania. But, judging from the registry at the park, this may be because they may never have seen a car in their lifetime. We described the views as either jaw-dropping or OMG moments. The most amazing thing was it was entirely ours. I mean, the whole national park. Not another car, not another hiker, not a building in the distance. No sounds of humans anywhere. Well, we did have Ethan with us, so it wasn’t like it was quiet or anything. These mountains are some of the oldest in the world, over 3.6 billion years old. The grassland covered even the peaks of these mountains, with waterfalls cascading into the valleys. Absolutely a fabulous place. . We ate dinner at the Hwane Resort, just outside the park. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay here as we had a fairly early flight from Johannesburg, and the border didn’t open until 7 a.m. They literally close the country down between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. That was at the main border crossing. The others were much more limited—like 8 to 8. We made it out before closing time, and regretted we hadn’t planned on more time in this lovely country.

Love, (we weren't here long enough to learn anything in the local language)

The Beatties