Swaziland
Swaziland’s annual reed dance involving thousands of bare-breasted maidens is traditionally the day King Mswati III chooses a new wife to add to his current harem of 11. Spoilt for choice, you might say. And you will be too if you visit the southern hemisphere’s smallest country. Swaziland offers luxury hotels, river rafting, hiking, game viewing and an extraordinary range of crafts including the world-renowned Swazi candles.
Choose from 200km of walking trails lasting from an hour to a week in the mountainous 18 000 hectare Malolotja Nature Reserve in the north. From the Logwaja viewpoint, the mountains stretch into infinity and raptors ride the thermals above the Malolotja River winding down towards the Malolotja Falls. Watch the sun sink behind Silotfwane Mountain that towers over the Majolomba Gorge, a quartzite ridge supporting three types of cycad, aloes, and more than 280 species of birds. Malolotja’s dramatic scenery was formed by rock laid down some three billion years ago. The area also boasts the oldest mine in the world. Lion Cavern, near the defunct Ngwenya iron ore mine, was excavated around 43 000 years ago. Its red ochre and black specularite minerals were used in rock paintings and Stone Age rituals. Take your pick of 21 backpacking camps in the area and set up tent in an achingly beautiful wilderness.
The Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary in the higher montane grasslands is the kingdom’s conservation jewel. Enjoy sundowner drives, scenic mountain bike rides or choose a hiking trail. The two-hour Mhlambanyatsi hike is a leisurely walk through forests and across the Mhlambanyatsi River, areas where antelope, zebra, blue wildebeest, crocodiles, hippos, monkeys and birds thrive. The four-hour Macobane trail takes you up to Nyonyane Peak, known as Execution Rock, where criminals once plunged to their deaths. The ancient San lived here too. Behind these mountains, the Mantenga waterfall and Usushwana Valley form the divide, before stretching up north towards one of the highest points at Luphohlo.
Horse trails enable you to view game close up. Choose from hourly rides, a scenic four-hour mountain ride or the overnight Nyagato trail, where you camp on the Usushwana River banks.
Is Swaziland sexist? At the Mphakatsi chief’s homestead a woman is chief and visiting tourists are accompanied by women guards who act as interpreters. You decide!
And whether you opt for Swaziland’s montane grasslands, savannah, upland vleis or forested ravines, you really will be spoilt for choice!