Swaziland

  Malkerns Valley, Swaziland
Sunday, July 22, 2007

Mozambique Border Post

Swaziland Border Post

After my two nights in Mozambique, I headed back to Swaziland to get a little Swazi culture and a glimpse of those ever-elusive Rhinos. Luckily, on my journey back from Maputo I was able to sit in the front so my knees were not up in my chest as they were for the trip there, however, we were still packed in like sardines (16 in a minivan)!

The next three nights were spent at Swazi Backpackers Hostel, which was a monster house overrun by Dutch backpackers. Ever since arriving in South Africa, that is whom I have been running into. My bus ride from Jo'burg to Swaziland contained 12 passengers of which 10 were from the Netherlands. I must say that I like the Dutch because they speak English and they like to play cards, as the evenings were spent in the hostel lounge playing Texas Hold'Em Tournaments.

Apart from relieving, the Dutch of a few of their Rand (SA Money) I attempted to go quad biking to a Swazi mountain village. Unfortunately, it was canceled at the last minute due to mechanical failure. I have already come to realize that visiting places in Southern Africa are much easier if you have rented a car (as many visitors do) as opposed to depending upon local public transportation. Since my plans for the day were ruined, I had to scramble around and find something to do at the last minute. Without the use of a car I crammed into a minivan and said, "I am going to the Swazi Cultural Village", about 10 minutes later it dropped me off on the side of the road near a sign that pointed up a dirt path heading uphill. The sign read "Swazi Cultural Village 2.7km" great I thought. I'll have a good hike up this mountain to think about how great it would have been to be quad biking right now!

Swazi Traditional Dress

After arriving at the Cultural Village I was treated to a 45 minute impressive cultural dance/play of the Swazi peoples and a less than impressive tour of a traditional village (I would much rather have seen the real thing).

Swazi Dance 2

Swazi Beehive Hut

After the tour of the village, it was recommended to visit the local waterfall, so as all the other visitors piled into their cars to drive to the falls I started the climb until I saw the sign that read "Waterfall 1.7km". I must have gone about 50 meters when I figured that these falls are not Victoria Falls so why am I climbing mountains to see them, so I turned around and started heading back. About halfway to the main road I saw some of the others passing me in their cars when one car stopped, all right I thought, some one is going to give me a lift, but know it was just some asshole from Switzerland who wanted to ask me, "You don't want to see the waterfall?" "Not really interested" I replied. "Yes, it was not special" he replied and drove off. "Thanks for offering me a ride" I said as he drove away. Upon my return to the hostel Selene, who had the good fortune of telling me my quad bike trip was canceled, met me. "So how was the Cultural Village?" she said. "It was okay, but you didn't tell me I would be hiking up a mountain" I replied. "Oh, nobody offered to give you a ride?" she responded.

After getting a bit of Swazi culture I headed to Mkhaya Game Reserve the next day to get a look at the Rhinos. I just wasn't content with seeing a Rhino through binoculars at Ngorongoro Crater and since Mkhaya is considered the best in Africa for both the White and Black Rhinos I just had to go there and complete the Big Five. PHOTO_ID_L=img_4953.jpg] Unlike my previous game drives in Kenya and Tanzania there were two cool things about Mkhaya. First, it was private (we were the only group in the park).

Mkhaya Game Reserve 2

Second, it wasn't just a drive. At times we were able to get out of the land rover and walk around, which meant I was able to get to within about 10 yards of the more docile white rhino.

Big Five

Yes, I finally got to see the Rhinos, both black and white.

mkhaya black rhino

Not that I really would have cared a few months ago if it weren't for Johan in Tanzania questioning whether or not I belonged in the Big 5 Club. As well as the rhinos I saw my usual share of elephants, giraffes, buffalo, and hippos, but that didn't matter because today was a good day because I saw the rhinos and oh yeah I was given a ride back to my hostel (about an hour) by Bev a South African who was part of the group.

Mkhaya Giraffes 2

Mkhaya Hippos

Mkhaya Buffalo