There are several holiday this month and we started our trip with a 4 day weekend for Easter. We just returned from 3 nights at Mlilwane Game Reserve about 40 minutes from Mbabane, where we are living. This park has many animals, but no elephants, lions, giraffes or rhino -- we'll have to wait until later for those. We met 3 other medical students there and had a great time, a little wet, but at least they had hot water at the hostel we stayed at!
Just before we left for Africa we found out that one of Leah's classmates, Rebecca Dixon, is working in Siteki, Swaziland at Good Shepard Hospital. We are half way across the world and we know someone in this small country, what a small world, literally! She is living with 2 medical students from Michigan -- Nick and Dan, twin brothers that attend different medical schools. They organized the trip for us and we joined along for the fun.
We got to Mlilwane on a kombi from Mbabane. The public transportation around Swaziland really deserves an entire entry all by itself, but here are some highlights -- the bus system here is made up of vehicles called kombi's. The Lonely Planet guide describes them a minibuses, don't be fooled, these are not what we Americans might imagine when we think of minibuses. These are rickety old vans that would seat about 10-12 people safely and comfortably -- narrow and with 5 rows including the front seat. Here they pack people in like sardines, about 20 people and more if there are small kids on board! And the kombi's are almost always full! It is certainly an experience and a little nerve wracking as they barrel down hills, flying past cars and then struggle to make it up hills. But hey, it is cheap and we can get around.
The kombi stop was about 2 kilometers from the hostel we stayed at in the park, and as walked in we had to wait for zebras standing in the road. We were able to get really close! We also saw warthogs and impala as we entered the park, so amazing to see these animal up close. The hostel (Sondzela's) where we stayed with Rebecca, Nick and Dan is described as the Roll's Rocye of backpackers hostels. It was pretty nice, beautiful views, a swimming pool and the best part -- hot water, yeah, we took a lot of showers! There was even an ostrich that came to drink water out of the swimming pool (yuck!) every day. The hostel served up huge breakfasts and dinner -- traditional Swazi porridge for breakfast and beef stew for dinner. The dinners were well enjoyed after our full day of activities.
The first day Mike and I went on mountain bike ride through part of the park. Again we rode right next zebra's and Leah was frightened by a troop of screaming vervet monkeys. Mike made fun of me all weekend because each monkey was about the size of a cat, but in my defense they were making a lot of noise and staring us down.
On Saturday Mike set the alarm to get up for sunrise, he missed it by a little but came to face to face with what he later learned was a blue wildebeast. Mike stayed long enough to take a photo and then moved away. After breakfast all of us hiked up to Executioner's Rock (Nyonyane Peak), where they actually used to take people and push them off to their death. Thank goodness those days are over! It was an awesome hike with amazing views, 6 hours round trip and well worth it. We got stuck in a storm on the way down and got soaked, slipped in the mud a few times and were covered in dirt by the time we arrived back at the main camp. Luckily we made it back just before they stopped serving lunch and were able to get "toasters" -- grilled cheese with tomato and ham, yum!
Sunday we went for a long walk around the park and were able to get a brief view of the baboons, who took off as soon as they saw us. They were the only animal we saw that was really timid of humans, every other animal would just watch us and then walk away. That afternoon Rebecca, Mike and I went on a guided tour arranged through the park to a Swazi village nearby. We were pretty skeptical at first that it would be a rehearsed act and corny, but it turned out to be really engaging and fascinating. The village is located just outside the park entrance and makes their money hosting tour groups from the park (the chief of this village is a female, she was appointed after her husband died). Rebecca and I had to put on a wrap around cloth skirt as you are not supposed to wear pants. The cloth had photos of the king on it and we were not allowed to sit on the picture of the king, so we had to position the cloth correctly! We were greeted by more than 20 extremely cute, snotty nosed children who were so excited to see us. Many of these children were orphans who were looked after by the chief and the village. They had a whole ceremony prepared for us, and even though it was definitely rehearsed it was so fun to see the kids singing, dancing and having a great time -- they made us get up to dance with them and taught us several SiSwati words and songs. The women also showed us some traditional weaving and corn grinding methods. Rebecca and I had to balance things on our head and Mike was the resident photographer. The kids LOVED the camera and always wanted to see the photos afterwards. Mike would get them to try to stay still for a photo and they would compete to get in the picture. On our way back to the park that afternoon right before the sun set we stopped by the lake and got to see the hippos that live there. This was really exciting to us because we had been looking for them all weekend! They made amazing deep and powerful noises, and a couple of times lifted their heads way out of the water and opened their huge mouths. It was really cool!
Today we left the park and went craft shopping on our way back to Mbabane. We stopped a place called Gone Rural, a cooperative that supports female craft makers in Swaziland. All of the products were so beautiful, I wanted it all! We also stopped at House on Fire, a funky art gallery and theater with really unique architectural sculpture and tile work. Certainly not something I expected to see in Africa. It kind of reminded Mike and I of some of the earth ships in New Mexico. Then we took the kombi to the Ezulwini Valley craft fair. Here there were about 30 - 40 vendors in a row and they all sold the pretty much the same thing. They REALLY wanted us to buy things and kept saying, "for you my friends I offer you a good price". The merchants would follow us around their little set up and say "this bowl is beautiful, please choose one". It was a good lesson in saying "we'll wait and see", which we said over and over again. We only purchased things from the less pushy merchants.
After we shopped until we had spent too much money we had to catch the kombi home as I have to work tomorrow. Every kombi that passed us was packed full of people, we still can't figure out how they get so many people in one van. We we finally caught one and made our way back to Mbabane.
Mike has to edit his photos from this weekend, so look back for more photos as the week goes on.
We can't wait for our next adventure!
Leah and Mike
Just before we left for Africa we found out that one of Leah's classmates, Rebecca Dixon, is working in Siteki, Swaziland at Good Shepard Hospital. We are half way across the world and we know someone in this small country, what a small world, literally! She is living with 2 medical students from Michigan -- Nick and Dan, twin brothers that attend different medical schools. They organized the trip for us and we joined along for the fun.
We got to Mlilwane on a kombi from Mbabane. The public transportation around Swaziland really deserves an entire entry all by itself, but here are some highlights -- the bus system here is made up of vehicles called kombi's. The Lonely Planet guide describes them a minibuses, don't be fooled, these are not what we Americans might imagine when we think of minibuses. These are rickety old vans that would seat about 10-12 people safely and comfortably -- narrow and with 5 rows including the front seat. Here they pack people in like sardines, about 20 people and more if there are small kids on board! And the kombi's are almost always full! It is certainly an experience and a little nerve wracking as they barrel down hills, flying past cars and then struggle to make it up hills. But hey, it is cheap and we can get around.
The kombi stop was about 2 kilometers from the hostel we stayed at in the park, and as walked in we had to wait for zebras standing in the road. We were able to get really close! We also saw warthogs and impala as we entered the park, so amazing to see these animal up close. The hostel (Sondzela's) where we stayed with Rebecca, Nick and Dan is described as the Roll's Rocye of backpackers hostels. It was pretty nice, beautiful views, a swimming pool and the best part -- hot water, yeah, we took a lot of showers! There was even an ostrich that came to drink water out of the swimming pool (yuck!) every day. The hostel served up huge breakfasts and dinner -- traditional Swazi porridge for breakfast and beef stew for dinner. The dinners were well enjoyed after our full day of activities.
The first day Mike and I went on mountain bike ride through part of the park. Again we rode right next zebra's and Leah was frightened by a troop of screaming vervet monkeys. Mike made fun of me all weekend because each monkey was about the size of a cat, but in my defense they were making a lot of noise and staring us down.
On Saturday Mike set the alarm to get up for sunrise, he missed it by a little but came to face to face with what he later learned was a blue wildebeast. Mike stayed long enough to take a photo and then moved away. After breakfast all of us hiked up to Executioner's Rock (Nyonyane Peak), where they actually used to take people and push them off to their death. Thank goodness those days are over! It was an awesome hike with amazing views, 6 hours round trip and well worth it. We got stuck in a storm on the way down and got soaked, slipped in the mud a few times and were covered in dirt by the time we arrived back at the main camp. Luckily we made it back just before they stopped serving lunch and were able to get "toasters" -- grilled cheese with tomato and ham, yum!
Sunday we went for a long walk around the park and were able to get a brief view of the baboons, who took off as soon as they saw us. They were the only animal we saw that was really timid of humans, every other animal would just watch us and then walk away. That afternoon Rebecca, Mike and I went on a guided tour arranged through the park to a Swazi village nearby. We were pretty skeptical at first that it would be a rehearsed act and corny, but it turned out to be really engaging and fascinating. The village is located just outside the park entrance and makes their money hosting tour groups from the park (the chief of this village is a female, she was appointed after her husband died). Rebecca and I had to put on a wrap around cloth skirt as you are not supposed to wear pants. The cloth had photos of the king on it and we were not allowed to sit on the picture of the king, so we had to position the cloth correctly! We were greeted by more than 20 extremely cute, snotty nosed children who were so excited to see us. Many of these children were orphans who were looked after by the chief and the village. They had a whole ceremony prepared for us, and even though it was definitely rehearsed it was so fun to see the kids singing, dancing and having a great time -- they made us get up to dance with them and taught us several SiSwati words and songs. The women also showed us some traditional weaving and corn grinding methods. Rebecca and I had to balance things on our head and Mike was the resident photographer. The kids LOVED the camera and always wanted to see the photos afterwards. Mike would get them to try to stay still for a photo and they would compete to get in the picture. On our way back to the park that afternoon right before the sun set we stopped by the lake and got to see the hippos that live there. This was really exciting to us because we had been looking for them all weekend! They made amazing deep and powerful noises, and a couple of times lifted their heads way out of the water and opened their huge mouths. It was really cool!
Today we left the park and went craft shopping on our way back to Mbabane. We stopped a place called Gone Rural, a cooperative that supports female craft makers in Swaziland. All of the products were so beautiful, I wanted it all! We also stopped at House on Fire, a funky art gallery and theater with really unique architectural sculpture and tile work. Certainly not something I expected to see in Africa. It kind of reminded Mike and I of some of the earth ships in New Mexico. Then we took the kombi to the Ezulwini Valley craft fair. Here there were about 30 - 40 vendors in a row and they all sold the pretty much the same thing. They REALLY wanted us to buy things and kept saying, "for you my friends I offer you a good price". The merchants would follow us around their little set up and say "this bowl is beautiful, please choose one". It was a good lesson in saying "we'll wait and see", which we said over and over again. We only purchased things from the less pushy merchants.
After we shopped until we had spent too much money we had to catch the kombi home as I have to work tomorrow. Every kombi that passed us was packed full of people, we still can't figure out how they get so many people in one van. We we finally caught one and made our way back to Mbabane.
Mike has to edit his photos from this weekend, so look back for more photos as the week goes on.
We can't wait for our next adventure!
Leah and Mike
2 comments:
WOW!! I am so glad you guys set up this blog so we can get full details as you travel. What a fantastic adventure you have already had!
we Swazis are happy that u guys enjoyed your stay with us!!we'd love to host you again. however i would like to clarufy that in swaziland there are strict transportation laws and the safety of the passengers is on the top of the authorirties list. that is why i find it hard to believe that u were "packed like sardines" while using public transport in our country. the kombis strictly carry 15 passengers and no more than 16 per trip, the 20 u are talking about is quite farfetched and misleading thank you.
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