Swaziland

Friday 29th January 2016 – After a leisurely breakfast by the pool, Vincent and Sylvia, the French couple from Paris ( He, a gay air steward and her, his holiday wife!) load up the car with our baggage…Vincent showing his expertise at fitting numerous bags into a tiny space…a skill necessary for any airline steward! This is luxurious travel for us being so used to journeying with public transport. Travelling towards Swaziland we listen to 80’s English and French hits and Vincent keeps us amused with hilarious stories of passengers he has met via Air France! Soon enough we are entering the Kingdom of Swaziland…either side of us we are sandwiched between sugar cane estates. As we follow the river we approach ‘Big Bend’ a town aptly named after the bend in the river. We arrive at the capital Mbabane around 3pm and then head to see Sibebe Rock, the highest granite pluton in the world! Lost, we ask a local man for directions, beer in hand (it is Friday afternoon after all) he gives us directions and adds, ‘Don’t give up…the rock will call you.’ We eventually arrive at the geologically impressive Sibebe Rock and lunch there. Too late to hike up, we continue on to Ezulwini Valley and arrive at Legends Backpacker Lodge…we are greeted by Namibian born David…a happy, hippy type who appears to be high as a kite! We check in and toast with prosseco and beer then dine out in a local restaurant on delicious lamb shanks! On returning to our room we have a visitor…the biggest millepede we have seen so far is literally legging it across our room…Aaron gently returns it to its outside jungle where we hope it will stay for the night!

Saturday 30th January 2016 – Having booked breakfast the previous evening with hippy David, we realised he wasn’t going to make an appearance due to hard partying the night before so we made do with tea and a few left over yogurts we had! Afterwards, we say fond goodbyes to Vincent and Sylvia…they are moving on to a different backpackers. While at the Information Centre we bump into them again! We research visas for Mozambique and Malawi and discover that it is more complicated than we thought so put this on hold for the time being. Walking into town, we stock up on fresh, healthy produce from the local Spar…it is the best supermarket I have been to since being in Africa. It is surrounded by a glorious landscape of gentle, green mountains and the streets are spotless, not a piece of litter in sight…the cleanest country yet! After a cheesy Greek salad for lunch Aaron catches up on our blog and I download photos on the stunning balcony surrounded by a canopy of trees. Later we feast on hake, onions, peppers, fresh beans and sweet potato cooked on the braii accompanied again by prosseco and beer, all eaten on the romantic, torch lit balcony. We spend the evening at the Happy Valley Casino and roll into bed around 1.30am.

Sunday 31st January 2016 – Woken at 8am by vervet monkeys stampeding across our see-through corrugated roof! They really are mischievous…eyeing me up expectantly as I walk past the pool towards the restrooms. We breakfast on fresh pineapple, yogurt, eggs and tea…delicious! Walking into town, we decide to have separate days…Aaron, a boys day and myself a girlie day. Aaron stays in town and I buy chocolate and amble back to our hostel. It is hot so I take a dip in the pool, have a healthy refreshing salad for lunch then lie in the garden hammock. It is quiet at the backpackers…looking up from my hammock I study the canopy of trees with its green foliage while the dappled sunlight makes patterns on me. I drift in and out of sleep, a gentle breeze stroking my cheek…this is paradise…tomorrow we leave for Kruger Park!