Anniversary Road Trip to Swaziland

Happy Easter! Easter in South Africa is a 4-day holiday weekend with banks and businesses closed both Friday and Monday. And for the kids, it's a 2-week break from school, not a "spring break," though, because it is now officially autumn here in the southern hemisphere. For Easter weekend, we chose to visit the Kingdom of Swaziland as an anniversary getaway, and what's fun road trip it was!

Our 3rd Anniversary Dinner (2nd in Africa) at Level Four at the 54 on Bath hotel at Rosebank in Johannesburg



Martha's anniversary necklace, made
from ostrich eggs, representing our 3
years of marriage



They presented us an anniversary cake to share for desert

Our 3rd anniversary (and 2nd in Africa) was March 23rd. We celebrated by visiting Sinikiwe Women's Empowerment Projects in the morning and presenting them with a cash donation and an HP All-in-One printer/fax/copier/scanner, then we had a Dukes Court board meeting. We celebrated with dinner at a 5-star restaurant, Level Four at 54 on Bath in Rosebank. Great food and ambience, and we heard more American voices there that night than we have heard in over a year. We found out from our waitron that there was an American tour group in the hotel. 

Presenting the HP printer to Jenny (center) and Desiree (right)



The ladies of Sinikiwe and their childrenwho are on school vacation

We left early in the morning on Good Friday, 25 March, and drove 4 hours to the Kingdom of Swaziland, a beautiful country, about the size of New Jersey, enclosed entirely within the borders of South Africa, next to Mozambique. The scenery was gorgeous, dotted with pink and white wildflowers, and the weather was spectacular all weekend.

Flag of the Kingdom of Swaziland

We arrived at the Swazi border by noon. Because of the holiday traffic, it took us an hour and 45 minutes to get through passport control, immigration and customs at the border. But it was all worth it! Compare that to 12 minutes we took at the border on the way home on Saturday.




Wildflowers on the way to Swaziland





Swaziland coat of arms and shield



Entering the mountains of Swaziland at the Oshoek-Ngwenya border crossing

Cars were backed up forever at the border, then we parked and waited in a long
queue on both the South African side and the Swaziland side, for a total of 1:45

One of several places of business at the border

Immediately upon crossing the border you can tell you are in a different country, as nothing looks or feels like South Africa - you are impressed by the green rolling hills at the base of tall rugged mountains. You find yourself "in the mountains."



We drove first to the Ngwenya glass factory, about 5 minutes from the border. The factory was closed for the holiday , but the glass shop and several other small shops were open and impressive. We ate "lunch" at the chocolate shop and vowed to come back to these shops the next day on our way home.

We then drove all the way to the town of Manzini and stopped at sights and markets along the way. Swaziland has a beauty all its own. Swaziland has a king and a royal family and is proud to be an independent kingdom. We drove through Lobama, the legislative and spiritual capital of the country and realized there was something important going on.

There were crowds of people everywhere, most in elaborate and colorful church choir attire, but the service had just ended and they were dispersing. We saw blues, greens, reds and all colors of church choir uniforms. There were literally hundreds of congregations represented.


It turns out that all Christian congregations in the country were invited to join the king and the royal family for Good Friday worship. The Queen Mother was the featured speaker, and the king delivered his Easter message at the same venue the next day, Saturday.


A preacher from the apostolic church
in his white robe and blue sash



One of many clusters of church goers in their uniforms at
Lobama for the Good Friday festivities in Swaziland




We got through the traffic and arrived at the Swazi Cultural Village in Mantenga just in time for the amazing singing and dancing by the Swazi natives at 3:15.  They were very talented and athletic and demonstrated the looks and sounds of the traditional Swazi culture for almost a full hour.

They involved the audience by getting up close and personal



Mantenga Cultural Village is a living museum of old Swazi traditions and represents a classical Swazi lifestyle during the 1850s. It is  comprised of 16 thatched roof round huts for family members, plus kraals and byres for cattle and goats, reed fences and other structures. 

Our Swazi tour guide at the village explains that all 16 huts
make up one "home," each hut being a different" room,"
bedrooms for the plural wives, grandmother and multiple
children, the kitchen, living room, etc.

What a beautiful afternoon in nature and an inspiring and educational cultural experience, with families of African vervet monkeys frolicking in the trees all around us!

After the guided tour of the Swazi village, we took the hike to the nearby Mantenga Falls, a beautiful twin waterfall, the highest in Swaziland.

We had hoped to get to our "hotel," Maguga Lodge, actually a village of rondavels (round African thatched roof huts) up near Piggs Peak, before dark, but our GPS took us on a "shortcut," putting us on a miserable narrow dirt road where we drove less than 20 mph for almost two hours in total darkness. When the GPS said, "Turn right and you have arrived at your destination," there was no place to turn and no sign of anything but darkness, and we were running out of gas and starving.

We continued until we found a paved road, stopped at the first service station for gas and asked where we were and telephoned Maguga Lodge for directions. We found it a half-hour later. 

Our room took up half a hut and was cozy and comfortable. The restaurant, overlooking Maguga Dam (Lake), was exactly what we needed. As we ate, we could hear the hippos bellowing right below us near the banks of the lake.

The view from Muguga Lodge of the mountains and valley



Our rondavel hut and orange tree at Maguga Lodge



Our Nissan Tiida car in front of our hut with other huts, with the
Maguga Dam and the mountains of Piggs Peak in the background

We didn't really appreciate the magnificent beauty of our surroundings until we got up early the next morning and could see it in the daylight when we went back to the restaurant for a wonderful breakfast buffet. What a view!

At breakfast overlooking the lake and listening to the hippos

Maguga Dam as seen from the Maguga Lodge restaurant balcony

Hippos in the shallow end of the lake below the restaurant

Another view of the lake, Maguga Dam, and the bridge we crossed to get there

Then we drove a very scenic hour or so around the lake and back to the Ezulwini valley and its fun shops near the cultural village. We bought lots of souvenirs - high quality handicrafts at incredibly affordable prices - including rings and bracelets made of coarse elephant hair at the silversmith shop.

Our favorite stop was at a reception center and concert venue called House on Fire and the Gone Rural basket shop next door. Gone Rural is a non-profit organization of 750 Swazi women who combine tradition with innovation to create what they call "Afro-chic" home accessories and bold statement pieces, mostly baskets and other woven items. Their products are all hand-made from local raw materials that are harvested above the root to allow regeneration. Those sustainable fibers are combined with recycled plastics, ceramics and fabrics also obtained locally. This highly successful business model empowers rural women through providing them with home-based income and skills training. The artisans take home 40% of the wholesale price and 100% of the profits are invested back into the company's development or community programs, including a health clinic, school fees scholarships for 400 children per year, HIV/AIDS peer education training and access to clean drinking water.

Some views of the very unusual and
eclectic House on Fire reception center
and concert venue

Martha with her bag of goodies outside Gone Rural,
next door to House on Fire

 Bob in a sitting area at House on Fire at Ezulwini, Swaziland





The bar indoors at the House on Fire reception center







Exiting to the outdoor concert venue and bandstand

Needless to say, House on Fire is unlike anything we had ever seen before or since in Africa or anywhere else!













Outdoors is an immense lawn that can seat thousands of concert goers on blankets with picnics facing a bandstand big enough for a 100-piece symphony orchestra.

We had a delightful lunch at Malendela's restaurant in that same complex. The menus were on chalkboards, with a wide variety of choices, and the food hit the spot. It was a beautiful place to enjoy a delightful late summer day.

We made our target of being back to the Ngwenya shops near the border by 3:00, got our last few souvenir items and made it home to Dukes Court shortly after sunset at about 6:30.

We were back in our "home" branch in Protea Glen for Easter Sunday and had a wonderful Easter service. To Martha's great delight, Mlu showed up for his piano lesson having learned a complete hymn, which he proudly played for the prelude music on Easter Sunday as she beamed from ear to ear, holding back the tears.  He has made good use of the keyboard we presented him with last week.

Our Easter thoughts are upon our Savior and his resurrection and Atonement. We know he lives and rejoice in that great knowledge.