Having arrived in Mbabane I decided to take a taxi to the backpackers as I had no idea how far it was and I was pretty exhausted having been travelling since the previous day. I waited patiently while the taxi drivers argued about who was going to take me and made it to the hostel with plenty of time to put up my tent before dark. I then decided to go out for dinner. I was so determined to find local food, so I asked the Swazi lady working at the hostel where to go. She told me that the best [View Full Entry]

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Well we're writing this 7 months in arrear, but realise there's no picture's of swaziland on google!! am writing this with my sister, who's husband is swazi. we've been there for a total of 5 weeks during the past 2 years with their twin boys - 2 and a half as we write. i have to say if you're travelling in southern africa and have a chance to, visit swaziland! it's the most breathtakingly beautiful landscape, and if you feel in anyway unsafe in south africa (where amy had her wallet stolen - but we loved despite that!), you won't feel [View Full Entry]

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I drove to Swaziland with Meke and Irena.....Meke almost drove through the border without stopping before a uniformed man with a gun halted "stop!". Passing through the border was simple and we drove very slowly (they take speeding in Swaziland very seriously) to Matsapha where we stayed at The Swaziland Backpackers (highly recommend this place!!). There were a great many other travelers staying there so I was able to swap stories and tips on traveling. The following day Meke, Irene and I (along with a wacky Irish dude) went quadding (4-wheel motorcycle riding) up in the hills surroundi [View Full Entry]

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"Sex can wait," scream the posters in Mbabane (the capital of the kingdom). "Aids can kill you and your dreams." 40% of the adult population in Swaziland is HIV positive. You read that right. It's not a typo. A staggering 40% of Swazi adults are HIV positive, the highest rate of infection in the world. It's a pandemic that threatens the country's future. Life expectancy at birth has fallen to 32 years. The king has just ended a 5 year ban on sex for young women one year early. The ban known as Umcwasho was supposed to be a "traditional" way [View Full Entry]

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¡Visita mi página web y mis blogs! www.temoris.org temorisblog.wordpress.com www.mundoabierto.info [View Full Entry]

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After our stressful bus ride we reached Swaziland on Monday night. Swaziland is a country that is land bound between South Africa and Mozambique; it is similar in many ways to South Africa, but it feels much more rural, and much less westernised. We arrived at Sondzela backpackers which is situated on Milwane game reserve, its a very cool little place with alot of luxuries, infact i can't believe it was so cheap!! The first night we were there we just slept, but woke in the morning to sunlight pouring through the windows, mountains on the horizon, and wathogs grazing on [View Full Entry]

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Got up Friday with plans to interview a chief from Bogani's area and then go to Bulembu again and some of us would stay the night but we didn't know who yet. We got to Bogani's and his dad wasn't there yet. We ended up interviewin his dad and then went to the chief's krawl. It was very ceremonious: we all sat down on the ground and one Swazi guy introduced everybody and talked in Siswati and then Jim talked and there was some discussion and thanks and a prayer and we didn't go any further with the interview. We [View Full Entry]

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The day started slow. Around 10am we decided to split up the team and I got to go out with Deano, Miles, and Magugu to the rural area to the east and we filmed boys herding cattle. We did some portraits and shots of the boys with the cattle and I got a little sound, but nothing great. We kept driving and as luck would have it the first homestad we stopped at allowed us to shoot portraits of their family and around their home doing some chores. I took stills of the younger people and they loved looking at [View Full Entry]

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We interviewed Treasure, a girl had been abused multiple times, at the Mountain Inn first thing in the morning. I was not in the interview. She was with Ben and Janeen, a young American couple. From there we went to St Anne's school to talk with teachers about teacher-student abuse. I was not in the interviews. Mart, Tyler, Rob, and George were now with us. Next stop was SWAGAA--Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse. The interview there went well, I was again not in it. We drove as fast as we could to interview a Jericho sect prophet. We got there just [View Full Entry]

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Today we went to a clinic, a care point for orphans, and took our first trip to Bulembu. At the clinic, there were hundreds of people there to get care. A large percentage for HIV/AIDS I'm sure. Lots of people of all ages. We interviewed a nurse and a counselor. Both went well. Didn't see anything graphic, but a lot of sick people. One man asked for something, and I had nothing to give him, and he seemed so ashamed. Timbissini Care Point was our next stop. 50 kids come each day to get food and learn under a tree. [View Full Entry]

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