Mini- trip to Swaziland

Last week (the weekend before school officially closed), I decided to get away from the painting, dusty/moldy books, and paperwork and just relax, swim, and shop. Swaziland is not so far away , and I wanted to see another country while I was here, so I hopped in my car and seven, not so short, hours later I was there. OK, why seven hours? Well, driving to the border of Swazi, easy, waiting in lines to cross border, less easy, being re-routed from main national highway through Mbabane city central on a Friday evening, not easy at all! Lots of slow moving traffic, and I was not exactly sure if I was still following the detour correctly; did I mention it was stormy and I was driving in a downpour?
However, it was all worth it. I went to Mlilwane Nature Sanctury; a quiet, peaceful place which was just what I was looking for. Even though I was two hours late, they kindly had a key and showed me to my beehive – yes, beehive. Well, it is a traditional hut structure that looks like a beehive. Very cool. (This has been a fun year housing-wise– rondavels, a treehouse, camping in rainforests of Madagascar, my home in the township,etc.)
The next morning, I went for a quick bike ride and walk around (my bike ride would have been longer , but a male wildebeest seemed unhappy with my choice of trail, so I turned down a short path). The place was all shades of green and clouds and mist hung over the mountains and hills. Next, stop shopping!
I went to the famous Swazi Candle shop (which is actually one of a cluster of craft workshops all selling hand-made goods, and the best part (for me) was watching the crafts people at work.
I spent way too much time at the candle shop, but there are SO MANY candles and each one is a little different. Also, one of the craftswomen gave me some paraffin, so I could try my own hand at candle-making. After ten minutes of work, I declared my candle to be the ugliest candle I ever saw. The craftswoman kindly took pity and said that I was clearly making a cheetah head candle, and then she proceeded to shape my mess into just that, and I still have it as souvenir. After my candle shopping, I spent some more time watching them shape elephant, hippo, and many other shaped candles by hand (they are very fast) and adding eyes and a wick; next, the outside layer of multi-colored and patterned wax is added to the shape. I have to say I was pretty fascinated by it all.
After my candle watching phase, I went onto the hand-dyed and hand-woven fabrics workshop. Far more complicated, I was happy just to watch. After looking at quite a few really pretty pieces, I chose two scarves made from bamboo and banana peel fibers that had been hand-dyed and woven together. I think the two different materials and textures made the scarves more interesting and the colors/patterns (so many to chose from) were wonderful. Hungry from a tough day of shopping, I headed to the café where I had the best soup I have had in southern Africa , and maybe the best chicken soup ever (EXCEPT my Mom’s chicken corn soup!) . The chicken soup was made with coconut milk, cilantro, a little fresh ginger, chicken, and sweet potatoes and other fresh herbs and spices , and it was absolutely delicious.
After checking out a couple more craft stores on my way back to camp, I arrived to find that I had guests waiting outside my beehive. A group of five impalas were lazily grazing around the campsite. I hung out with them a little while and headed for a swim with a breeze in the air and views of green hills all around. My last day, I went with a guide and another campground guest on a longer mountain bike ride around the nature sanctuary seeing gnus (wildebeest), zebras, impala, blesbok (a new kind of deer I hadn’t seen), cute and ugly at the same time baby wart hogs and their moma (my fav in the park) and many, many birds. As drove through the park heading for my SA home, I stopped by the hippo water hole and saw a couple of hippos spraying water and playing around as a crocodile (flat dog) swam by. I think I was expecting some sort of scene from Fantasia or a Mutual of Omaha’s Wildlife special, but no, the croc swam quietly on by, seemingly ignored by and in turn ignoring the hippos at play.
After a much shorter trip (no rain and no detour), I was home sweet home again.