http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Swaziland/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Swaziland en-us Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:22:16 UTC Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:22:16 UTC If the bullet enters through the head and combusts in the brain I see the eyeballs of the impala are squished out of its sockets. If the bullet enters through the eyes I don't see the eyes at all but a black space in the face. And if the bullet enters at the right part in the back of the brain I see the brains actually a mess outside of the skull.I met Micky while shooting the clay pigeons the http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/blog-330037.html Amy So what's there to do in SwazilandRob Mmmm... not much really I guessAmy Uhhmm... OK thenRob It'll be fun. We'll figure it out when you get hereAmy I guess I'll come tomorrow thenA day later I find myself in Big Bend a small town on the east side of Swaziland in Lebombo claypigeon shooting with some really large bushmen. So I guess Swaziland wasn't really planned until the day before http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/blog-329967.html It's been 2 weeks since the last entry so i've got quite alot to catch up on. I'm actually in Malawi now arrived today but more of that later.Following the sports day i splashed out on a night of luxury at a chalet not far from lidwala. Had been feeling rough and wanted the luxury of a bath. The place was gorgeous a 2 bedroom wood cabin with kitchen living room and bathroom set amongst woods a http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Ezulwini-Valley/blog-318651.html So Kinder diesmal endgueltig ein zumindest vorlaeufig letzter Eintrag aus Afrika Habe einen kurzen Zwischenstopp in Botswana fuer 2 Tage eingeschoben und dann gingrsquos ab auf die ldquoInternational Trade Fairrdquo in Manzini und Mbabane Swaziland. Ich wollte ja eigentlich von Botswana direkt zurueck nach Kuala Lumpur fliegen um wenigstens noch das Wochenende in KL zu haben bevor es dan http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Mbabane/blog-318502.html Leaving Lidwala lodge for a few days. Irsquom at the end of my prebooked time here but I am likely to be back on weekends. Was going to head for Ngwempisi gorge to do some hiking but had to delay as Irsquom feeling rotten upset stomach troubles. Thought Irsquod be ok so went to the interncp sports day organised by john the sports centre volunteer to chop veg for the kidsrsquo lunch. http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Ezulwini-Valley/blog-313892.html I have a little time to write about Sundayrsquos quadbiking as we had to come back from the project early today. We were pickedup at 8 by a guy called Richard an outspoken English expat who runs tours by car bike and hike into the swazi countryside so that visitors can experience the lsquorealrsquo Swaziland. We drove for about 45mins over to the other side of the Ezulwini valley to the http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Ezulwini-Valley/blog-311751.html Awake early I decided to get up to watch the sunrise over the mountains opposite. I settled myself on one of the huge boulders that lay strewn around the garden. The shadow on the slopes behind descends quickly. You feel a cold breeze on your back and warm air on your front as the yellow light in the sky intensifies over the peak. I watched a bird of prey soaring over the valley and storcks land http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Ezulwini-Valley/blog-306754.html So maybe a little more detail about the project Irsquom working on. Wersquore in a village called Mlandazwe which takes about 30 mins to get to on a good day hours on a bad one it all depends on the khombis the private minibuses all the locals use. The last couple of days there have been very few khombis so its taken hours. Wersquore making bricks by pressing earth in a contraption cons http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Ezulwini-Valley/blog-306750.html Sorry about brief entries been a bit of trouble with the internet connection plus there are about 20 other people using the lodge's laptop. I went to the nearby 25min walk shopping centre the gables to use the internet cafe this afternoon but the connection was worse there than here at lidwala. The gables has a couple of upmarket clothes shops cafes restaurants a supermarket banks. It's http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Ezulwini-Valley/blog-305129.html Things have improved a bit since last entry Settled in ok been working on site. It's about a 30min drive over the other side of the valley from the lodge i'm staying in with beautiful views of the mountains. The clouds roll in between 2 peeks above us. But the poverty is striking particularly set against the obvious money that is here. Coping with the allgirl volunteer group is the biggest cha http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Ezulwini-Valley/blog-304097.html Over 24 hours travelling so i'm a bit knackered. It shouldn't have taken that long but i missed the connecting flight at Joburg so had to sit around in the airport for 6 hrs. I made the fatal mistake of going to the loo when i got off the plane and then the woman at the SAA transfers desk said she wasn't going to 'go the extra mile' to get me on my connecting flight. And my luggage is missing b http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Ezulwini-Valley/blog-302826.html Day six July 9th SwazilandWe had breakfast at the hotel restaurant at the outskirts of Kruger Park and watched the sunrise. We headed out to the Eden chimpanzee reserve we learned about the rescue operation carried out all the chimps on the reserve where rescued from night clubs private owners etchellip. Some members of the group were fortunate to have met Jane Goddall I wasn't as fortunate http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/blog-302439.html EN FRANCAIS PLUS BASMORE PHOTOS HERE Thornbush Wacking in Swaziland YEBOOn Wednesday 11 even though it's not raining I get on the bus yet again to cross the border to Swaziland a process which is unexpectedly hasslefree. The clear weather allows us to witness a most beautiful and longlasting sunset setting the sky on fire behind the mountains circling the country. Thursday morning after http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Ezulwini-Valley/blog-291907.html Saturday definately turned out to be an interesting day.At around 730 Zulu dancers came to the hostel and put on a show.It was fantastic until they made me get up and dance which was a thousand times more awkward than you would ever imagine.Right after we ran outside because there was hippos on the lawn across the street.Hippos I went down the street to a pub to watch Holland play and lose http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Mbabane/blog-291141.html Part 2 of my major catchup. Basically this takes me through safari in the Kruger National Park and Swaziland.DAY 76 AUCKLAND SYDNEY JOHANNESBURGThe flights via Sydney were nothing special. I think I watched 5 movies or so. After my 18 hours in the air it was good to see Dad in the Jo'burg Arrivals Lounge. Went straight back to our place for the next couple of nights and had pizza for te http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Manzini/blog-289371.html THE KINGDOM OF SWAZILANDHIPPOS COME TO DINNER WARTHOGS AT THE CAMPFIREldquoWhen King Sobhuza II died at age 83 he left about 120 wives with unofficial estimates putting the number of wives and mistresses at more than double this number. The current King Mswati III has 13 wives. The King was the center of controversy in 2001 when he married a 17 year old two months after imposing a five year http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Ezulwini-Valley/blog-287940.html swaziland was beautiful big bend was beautiful. an old nun gave me a pair of shoes in the name of god in big bend. the cold was stinging my bare feet into spasms. the land stretches out like good young skin over a face and the face is swaziland staring up neon green eyes of strange sparkling trees and blinding white teeth of fresh painted crumbling shacks. swaziland and big bend freezing wind http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/blog-285886.html Swaziland is a beautiful country and one of the few remaining true Kingdoms in the World. We had a relaxing 2 nights at Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary. It's very different scenery than what we've been through recently and in many ways it reminded us a little of home with the mountains and all. Since there are no predators in the park we were allowed to roam freely and enjoy the wildlife on foot. http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Mlilwane-Wildlife-Sanctuary/blog-280986.html The best things come in small packagesWe arrived in Swaziland by bus changing our minds enroute about where exactly we were going. Having been used to the HUGE distances between towns in Mozambique we hadnrsquot quite downscaled our thinking properly when it came to tiny Swazi and the travelling time between towns.So we ended up in Manzini not actually the capital but the busiest city in th http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Manzini/blog-262884.html Hello allI 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 300 today My last 3 days in Swaziland were great and I highly recommend that everyone go there if they can. The people are ridiculously friendly and even a trip to the grocery store results in a few conversations. On Saturd http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Mbabane/blog-252753.html Hello from SwazilandThe 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 AWFUL a lot of potential but the staff were grumpy and it had no atmosphere. After a day myself and a Dutch girl named Saane moved to Swaziland Backpackers which is nearby and so much better. It's http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Mbabane/blog-251559.html 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 seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The hostel I stayed at Sondzela Backpackers is within the Mlilwane wildlife reserve itself and turned out to be one of my favourites located in a beautiful tranquil http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Mlilwane-Wildlife-Sanctuary/blog-247261.html 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 and many fairly poor blacks and feels very friendly and relaxed. It is green and very beautiful and has influences from South Africa in its lifestyle and supermarket culture. It feels quite wealthy aft http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Mlilwane-Wildlife-Sanctuary/blog-224834.html The average life expectancy for a Swazi is now 32 years old. 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 is I'm not quite sure but it probably has something to do with the size and location of this tiny country. Sandwiched between Mozambique a http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Mbabane/blog-223983.html ldquoYou are the reincarnations of Lord Varuna and Lord Vayurdquo the priest at the Shri Sanathan Mundal Temple in Stanger told us. We looked at each other in disbelief.ldquoDonrsquot you worry yoursquore just not aware of it yet but Irsquom 100 sure.rdquo He said and smiled as we nodded hesitantly.ldquoOf course you must stay with us here at the temple tonight together wi http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/blog-223383.html 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 the sort the chocolate tastes of cardboard the cheese of plastic. Swaziland is a tiny underdeveloped kingdom mostly surrounded by South Africa like a nut in a spanner with Mozambique sharing a sma http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Ezulwini-Valley/blog-221177.html Swaziland is great to drive through....but better to stop.We made our stop in Hlane Nat. Park...nice campspot where we were surprised by a nice culture show in the evening around the campfire.Next days Game Drive was even better.....Eye to eye with some Lions at just a couple of meters was greatTrying with your rental car to drive through te parks 4wd tracks was also a nice adventureAfter Swaz http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/blog-199351.html the next two days of the trip after kruger park we spent in the little kingdom of swaziland which is almost fully surrounded by south africa except for a short border with mozambique in the east i even got some stamps in my passport nice driving through the country with its really beautiful landscape you could see the discrepancy in development between south africa and swaziland. swaziland se http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/Mlilwane-Wildlife-Sanctuary/blog-198980.html Well this is it the end of our trip. We arrived back in the UK on Saturday morning to grey skys and drizzle.I cant remember right now where we last wrote from so I'll work my way backwards and when you come to somewhere you recognise you can stop readingWe spent the last week in Johannesburg staying with a friend. We hired a car for the week making it so much easier and cheaper to get aro http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/blog-192567.html