Swaziland

Monday 1st February 2016 – Hippy David had mentioned he was popping into Mbabane Monday morning and offered us a lift to the Mozambique embassy. So around lunchtime we were travelling in David’s pickup truck towards the capital, Alysa in the passenger seat, feeding reggae tracks from our phone into the stereo system whilst I rode in the back watching lush hills of green grass and granite pass by. Leaving David rolling a large spliff in the truck we entered the Mozambique embassy which was basically a large shed and from what we could make out the official on duty seemed to be saying that we needed to visit the embassy in Harare for a visa if we were going to be crossing from Zimbabwe. We returned to the pickup where David, delighted with the petrol money we had proffered earlier drove us to Mbabane bus station before, with an enthusiastic wave he departed in a cloud of hash and exhaust smoke. The next few hours were a whirl of wheels and African beats as the minibus hopped from Mbabane to Piggs Peak to the Swaziland border to Matsamo plaza and finally to Malalane, a town just outside the Kruger Park. Firing up our favourite app, Maps.me we walked through the town to a little guesthouse called MyLodge where we were made to feel very welcome by the owner Anna. As a treat we found a restaurant overlooking Kruger Park and dined on steak and king prawns, savouring our view of the river below as dusk fell.

Tuesday 2nd February 2016 – In order to drive round Kruger Park we needed a car and we learned from a bushy bearded Africaans man with forearms like teak logs that the only rental was at the airport 10km away. Before we knew it we had been ushered into the back of his pickup and were en route to the airport. It really is amazing the degree to which Africans have helped us on our travels, from small things like walking with us to show which minibus to take to driving for miles in response to simply being asked for directions to a car rental. Once furnished with a set of wheels we returned to MyLodge to pick up our bags to discover that Anna had supplied us both with a complimentary packed lunch. We reached the Malalane Gate of Kruger Park about lunchtime and drove along a gravel road to Crocodile Bridge Gate in the far southeast of the park. In addition to the ubiquitous impala we spotted lots of elephants, a crash of rhinos, a family of warthogs, three waterbuck and a lone hyena resting in the shade under a tree. Most memorable was when we stopped to watch two elephants on our right, not noticing the large female elephant feeding on the the left side of the road just 5 metres from our car. Speaking in whispers we turned off the engine and filmed the awesome spectacle. When after a few minutes the large pachyderm stepped onto the path just in front of us and took a warning step towards us we suddenly felt rather vulnerable in our small Renault. Suddenly, out of the undergrowth a baby elephant emerged to shelter under its mothers protective bulk and like this they crossed the road together and disappeared into the undergrowth.

Wednesday 3rd February 2016 – We were determined to make the most of our last day with the car and entered Kruger Park as soon as it opened at 6:30am. We drove from Malalane gate to Skukuza, Tshokwane, N’wanetsi picnic spot and on to Satara before returning to exit through Malalane gate just three minutes before it closed. During the course of the day we travelled through a range of terrains from the sparse and arid around N’wanetsi to the denser foliage around Satara to the rocky outcrops north of Malalane gate. The park was near deserted and on the road to N’wanetsi we must have driven for almost an hour without passing a soul. Imagine our surprise then when around 3pm in the afternoon we were making a U-turn and saw familiar faces in an approaching car. It was Vincent and Sylvia who were staying in one of the camps in the park! In thirteen hours of game spotting some highlights were a good, albeit distant sighting of three male lions resting under a large tree near a waterhole, an early morning encounter with a hyena family by the side of the road, an impressive male sable antelope in the late afternoon and a beautiful blue and magenta bird, as yet unidentified. Best of all were a fabulous pair of cheetahs staying cool under a bush right by the side of the road. Through the binoculars you could study the smallest details, their beautiful golden eyes, their distinctive tearmarks and the texture of their fur. Cheetahs are Alysa’s favourite animal and she was over the moon. Back in Malalane we gorged on takeaway pizza whilst watching a Matt Damon film about the search for WMD in the aftermath of the Iraq war.