Augusst 8-11.: On our way to Mozambique, we planned to travel through the Kingdom of Eswatini (still called Swaziland in Hungarian, but recently renamed Eswatini in English to better reflect the local language). Other than the fact that it is one of Africa’s smallest countries and the continent’s only absolute monarchy, we didn’t know much about it. Google showed us beautiful landscapes, huts, people in traditional clothing (and mostly the king). That’s why we were so surprised when we actually arrived in a very modern country.
We drove through the wealthy suburban area of the capital, then spent the night at the foot of Sibebe Rock (which you could only climb for a rather expensive entrance fee). Our accommodation was quite funny: tents had been set up at a more expensive lodge so that budget travelers could also stay there. Everyone was very friendly, and we tried the local beer, Sibebe.
The next day we drove through the capital again. It was small but relatively modern, with a multi-lane highway running through it. We decided to spend the night in a national park. It turned out that the huts Google had shown were actually the park’s accommodations, and the dancers in traditional clothing could be hired for money. Eswatini is clearly happy about tourism, and indeed we saw more tourists here than anywhere else so far. Still, it was interesting to see how different reality was from the way the country is advertised.
Mlilwane National Park itself was really charming. There are no big game animals here, which means you can do various hikes or even cycle around. We ran the 7 km trail called “Hippo” both in the afternoon and again the next morning. We saw zebras, nyalas, wildebeests, crocodiles, gazelles, and walked through beautiful hilly, wooded scenery. Our campsite was lovely as well: nyalas often wandered in, and in the evening two warthogs cuddled up and lay down by our campfire.
All in all, we spent a very relaxing day here, and with camping and entrance fees combined, it came to under 10,000 HUF (though there are both cheaper and more expensive bungalows available). For this reason, we would especially recommend a stop in Eswatini to families traveling to South Africa with young children (we saw many families there, and the kids really enjoyed the close encounters with the animals).
