Blogs from Mbabane, Swaziland, Africa

After another early morning and breakfast we started our drive towards the border of Eswatini and South Africa again, towards Kruger National Park. Before long, we stopped to visit the Ngwenya glass factory, where we watched the talented glass blowers create a range of enchanting African animals, birds, and fish, as well as tableware, made from recycled glass that is collected by the children of eSwatini. Although I have watched glass blowers at work before, it was interesting to see how well this large operation synchronized their work. They produced some very nice objects, mostly depicting some of the animals we had just seen, but I was deterred from buying any because of the weight of any of the bigger pieces. It was a consideration while traveling, specially since most flights have a weight limit, and ... read more

Saobona! That’s “hello” in Siswati, the most spoken language in The Kingdom of Swaziland. We left Hazyview and drove towards the south through stunning landscape and views we encountered on our way. The last town we passed by was Barberton and then we drove though some hills to reach Bulembu border-post. This was the quietest border-post I’ve ever been to and we were the only two people crossing at that time. The crossing went smooth and easy on both the South African side and the Swazi side. The Kingdom of Swaziland is the 70th country I laid foot on and we spent 4 days here, a little less than I initially planned. It’s a small country, landlocked between South Africa and Mozambique and has just over a million people. To be honest, I didn’t know what ... read more

As an important note: At the end of July, I will be climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Late July in an effort to raise funds for Open Arms Home for Children. Please look at my fundraising website at: http://www.crowdrise.com/KilimanjaroSummitforOpenArms I hope to raise $1 for every foot I climb: 19,341 feet = $19,341. Please consider sponsoring a part of my climb up the mountain!! As I write this I am currently 10% of the way there! Lets get to 100% Our days at Open Arms are more filled now than ever with preparing the kids for school at 6:30am and teaching from 8:30-2 pm. In the late afternoon while there is no set schedule; there is always something else to do whether it is to pick up milk at the dairy farm, help kids with homework, paint, ... read more

Crossing from Mozambique to Swaziland is textbook, an efficient but dull sequence of good roads, empty border checkpoints, then even better roads. Though I'm dropped at Manzini and have to take another minibus to reach Mbabane, Swaziland's capital, it's barely midday when I arrive. Mbabane is like being back in England, and I can't imagine just how it ended up being twinned with Fort Worth in Texas. It's cold, dull and misty, and there is a shop just like WH Smith's from where I purchase a copy of the Economist, and could even have had Q if I was so inclined. King Pie sells me a couple of steak and kidney pies and the sounds of English are everywhere. I'm cautious about this sudden familiarity - it feels uncomfortably as though I've gone forward in time ... read more

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 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 been cloudy here but hot, and the first day we were pretty tired and didn't get up to much. We went for a walk though and saw some wildlife, including a mom and baby warthog which were pretty cute. On the bus drive here we also saw a whole bunch of giraffes, one of which ran across the road---their legs are so ... read more