Background: Autonomy for the Swazis of southern Africa was guaranteed by the British in the late 19th century; independence was granted in 1968. Student and labor unrest during the 1990s pressured the monarchy (one of the oldest on the continent) to grudgingly allow political reform and greater democracy. Swaziland recently surpassed Botswana as the country with the world's highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection
January 27th 2008Africa » Swaziland » Manzini
We arrived in Swaziland by bus, changing our minds en-route about where exactly we were going. Having been used to the HUGE distances between towns in Mozambique we hadn’t quite down-scaled ... 11 photos[full story]
March 4th 2008Africa » Swaziland » Mbabane Hello all,
I took the bus to Joburg today, and so far it's done little to impress. It's raining, and the power just came back on after having been off since I arrived at 3:00 today!
My last 3 ... [full story]
February 17th 2008Africa » Swaziland » Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary We'd left the hostel at Hluhluwe early in the afternoon, crossed the boarded into Swaziland and by nightfall arrived at the hostel - a few km off the 'main' road, down a bumpy unsealed track and seemi ... 16 photos[full story]
March 1st 2008Africa » Swaziland » Mbabane Hello from Swaziland!
The trip here was loooong, but I finally made it on Wednesday night. I first stayed at a hostel called Sondzelas in a game reserve that had been recommended to me, but it was ... [full story]
November 20th 2007Africa » Swaziland » Ezulwini Valley Swaziland was nothing like I expected. I had bought a brand new travel guide and read about Alpine peaks, cheese, chocolate, Heidi, and a national obsession with local hero Roger Federer. Nothing of t ... 6 photos[full story]
December 3rd 2007Africa » Swaziland » Ezulwini Valley » Mlilwane Natural Reserve Out of the 47 countries in the world which I have visited, the tiny Kingdom of Swaziland has to rate in my top 5. It is a fascinating mix of relatively wealthy whites and a few middle class blacks, an ... 5 photos[full story]
September 8th 2007Africa » Swaziland -, the priest at the , told us.
We looked at each other in disbelief.
-“Don’t you worry, you’re just not aware of it yet, but I’m 100% sure.”“Of course you must ... 36 photos[full story]
November 30th 2007Africa » Swaziland » Mbabane Swaziland is a stable, affluent, and peaceful nation. So why are people dying at my age? Because of AIDS. Swaziland now has the highest infection rate in the world - a shocking 40+ percent. Why that ... 9 photos[full story]