swaziland

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Well we had quite a trip from Maputo, Mozambique to Manzini, Swaziland in the Ewulini Valley. We rode in one of those mini busses I mentioned previously. The first row of the 5 has the driver and two money collectors. The next three rows have 2 fixed seats and one fold down seat (for 3 a total of 3 people in each of these rows) and the last row is a fixed seat. This last row would be great if it were for 3 people but for whatever reason it is supposed to hold 4 people and we were all crammed back there. Also the seat is quite high off of the ground so that my head was hitting the ceiling constantly as the roads are all potholes and the minibus has no shock absorbers to speak of. We arrived to a giant taxi bus depot in the rain with our huge bags 5 hours later and people were literally laughing at us. Perhaps because our bags were so big!? It only cost 80 rand each for the trip tho (about 10 bucks).

We arrived to Sondzela Backpackers in the Milwane Nature Reserve, our 2nd major stay in a Nature Reserve. We saw an enormous number of animal all on free self guided walks, to include springbok, tons of monkeys of all sorts, crocodiles, hippos, zebras, warthogs, wildebeasts and more. We had tasty drinks at the hippo haunt and the old warthog and enjoyed eating impala. We also hiked up to Execution Rock, a cliff over which Swaziland threw its criminals until 1968. It literally is straight down over the edge. Sadly, we would have had a great vista of the whole valley but the clouds prevented this. Still it was a great hike and the pictures dont capture how scary it must have been to have been thrown over the edge of this sheer cliff. We also went to the Cuddle Puddle, a local hot springs and did a few other hikes and such. As usual we had lots of tasty food and met lots of fun locals. I was pleasantly surprised all around by Swaziland.

BACK IN SOUTH AFRICA: Today is our first day back in SA (south africa). After all of the internet problems (lack thereof) and sim card switches and loading and reloading of air time on our cell phones, we decided to go with a friend back to Johannesburg to the airport and rent a car. Laura made me upgrade to one with airbags but as it turned out they gave us a free upgrade anyhow. For 7 days we got unlimited kilometers and a one way drop off all for 68$ a day. The busses would have been more and also much less convenient. I am enjoying going 160 kph on the backroads on the left hand side while shifting with my left hand in my neat little 5 speed with 1.6 liter engine. We have had to completely stop several times as cattle, lambs, sheeps, and other animals crossed. Im having a great time.

UPCOMING: We are the next few days in the Drakenburg mountains. Tomoro we climb the 2nd highest waterfalls in the world and then later next week we go to Lesotho to the worlds highest pub. We will then drive down to the beaches of Durban, a former hangout of the Mahatma, then down the coast to Knysna for their Oyster Festival and where I will run a marathon on my 5th continent. The cutoff is 5.5 hours I will note and I am sure to be squeaking in under the time as I am in terrible shape. We have been eating lots of crisps (chips) and chips (fries) as well as oranges, pb and j, and bananas. After 5 days in Knysna we will have 4 days in Capetown before departing north to Namibia.

**contact info** If anyone would like to call us from now until the 20th and say hello it will be free for us (and cheap for you if you use skype), so:

Adam is: [phone]
Laura is: [phone]

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Comments

[Matt]

Lesotho's pub
Thanks for posting about your travels. I've enjoyed following you on your adventures. I was in SA and Lesotho last October, and if you're planning on driving up the southern pass into Lesotho in a regular passenger vehicle, you can forget it. The road was extremely bumpy when I went up, and we had some difficulty with a few sections in a 4WD. The highest pub was fun, especially since it was freezing up there and the pub was really warm and cozy. Once you continue up the road past several of the rondavels, you'll climb to a wonderful view point back down on the valley. Take care! Matt