Blogs from Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, Swaziland, Africa

Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary We woke up from our accommodation at Sondzela Backpackers to discover in our backyard warthogs grazing the grass. It finally dawned on us that we were in a sanctuary where animals had the right of way. The Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary is Swaziland's best known nature reserve. In 1961 Ted Reilly took action to save what remained of the kingdom of Swaziland's wildlife, converting his land into a sanctuary and rounding up animals from elsewhere around the country. In the sanctuary there are no large predatory animals like lions and cheetahs or leopards. Therefore, it is safe to walk around the sanctuary as long as you stay clear of the animals and let them mind there own business. After breakfast, Renata and I walked all the way up to the base camp where we ... read more

Arrived into our camp in Swaziland on Tuesday after a very hot journey. I had a bizarre experience at the border where a very happy border man vigorously shook my hand!! We stayed in a game park which because it had no cats meant we could walk around. The food there was excellent and we even ate Impala which is a type of antelope. We stayed in more beehive type huts with a sliding door which I again had to crawl into. We shared the camp with warthogs and antelopes! I tried to take a picture of the mother warthog but she came at me and I nearly fell over. On Tuesday evening after our evening meal we watched traditional Swazi singing and dancing, including high kicks from the men and women. On Wednesday we went ... read more

This afternoon was a great highlight for our trip - we were entertained in a Swazi village near the entrance of Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary. The chief (a 37-year-old widow) was out on royal business, so her daughter led the visit. The local guide, Sicuelo, and his assistant, Sonnboy, first dressed us appropriately by wrapping a cloth around our waist (women) or over one shoulder (men). Sonnboy knotted our wraps, taking care to have the printed image of the king right-side-up and right-side-out. Then we were led into the village. Sicuelo asked us to wait under a tree and not to wander because he had to seek permission for us to enter the village and the chief’s compound. Meanwhile, Sonnboy taught us how to respond to the greeting phrase. After some time Sicuelo brought us into the ... read more

I got very lucky on the day I was leaving Sodwana Bay and South Africa. Curtis, from USA, who was also staying at Natural Moments, was leaving the same day I was for Johannesburg in his rented car. He kindly agreed to drop me close to the Swazi border, but in the end brought me all the way to the Onverwacht border post with Swaziland. At first, this didn’t look like it would be the best border to cross at. We had to follow a gravel road for a few kilometres before re-joining the tarred road to the border. There wasn’t a much signs of any other vehicles going through, which didn’t bode well for my hopes of getting a lift of some sort to the next town. The Swazi immigration official gave me some grief ... read more

Our destination in Swaziland was the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary – a beautiful retreat up in a valley in the mountains where you can sleep in traditional bee hive huts. We really had no idea what to expect in Swaziland as there was no real website for Mlilwane and it was not on trip advisor. So for me I was a bit nervous as I like to know what I am getting into ahead of time. Once again though, this place far exceeded anything we even imagined. Before reaching our destination, we first stopped at the Swazi Candle Factory – a little place very close to Mlilwane where they make candles by hand. It’s not really a factory like what we think of. It is more of a Candle shop. The man was sitting right there ... read more