SWAZILAND A BREAK IN OUR ROUTINE FOR A QUICK LOOK

Early in 1990 we decided that it was time to have a look see at some of the places around us. Thus far our range had extended to Sun City, Kruger Park and the Johannesburg/Pretoria area. Our travel guide Deysi determined that Swaziland was our next destination. One day with a couple of days added to a weekend we jump on a plane in Jo’burg and fly into Mbabane, Swaziland. This is a kingdom, independent of South Africa, but very dependent on South Africa. It started as a British protectorate, but in a joint agreement with South Africa was given its independence in the late 1800’s.

At the time we visited there, the population was somewhat less than 1,000,000 people and it was ruled by a King and Council. When we visited, the current king had just assumed rule about 3 years earlier and was 21 years of age at that time. His father had ruled before him for 82 years. The people were very loyal to the king, and at the time we were there, Swaziland appeared to be moderately prosperous. I believe things have changed a good deal over time and today, there is much poverty amongst the now 1.3 million people.

We arrived in the early afternoon on a flight from Johannesburg and I was sent into a little fit almost immediately upon arrival. I don’t know what it is, exactly, about smaller and less significant countries, but it seems that the smaller the country the greater the number of stamps that are given to their officials at the border.

In those days the Canadian passport had either ten of 15 pages. When we landed, the immigration agent asks what we are doing there, so we explain that we have come for a short holiday and a visit to Swaziland. He was an officious ass of a man, and grabbed his three most favorite stamps. Then, put big red and blue blotches on three separate pages of my passport. He was reaching for another when I stopped him. He looked at his handiwork and with a satisfied smile, reached across for Deysi’s passport. By this time he had gotten the message and put her stamps all on one page. We sailed through the rest of the formalities, rented a big white van and were off to see the sights.

We learned very quickly that there were no real large attractions for tourists to see in Swaziland. At that time their glass blowing industry was probably the most famous attraction. We managed to dump a bit of cash into blown glass figurines of all of the African animals. Enough in fact that Deysi had presents for all, on her return to Canada.

There was also a large wax candle making industry so we purchased another round of cute wax African animal figurines. We still have these ornaments in our home to this day. We passed on the Elephant (foot) footstools. Deysi was not having any of these no matter how much I pleaded. I think her response was “over my dead body”. We also visited the open market for food and crafts and like all other markets we encountered in Africa it was busy with lots of movement, sights, sounds and smells. It was here that Deysi found her woven straw ornamental baskets, which also remain with us to this day.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We stayed in a very nice African style lodge. The rooms were clean but the food was not memorable. Of course there was a swimming pool for the girls. That was all they needed to see of Swaziland. We drove around a good part of the country in our van and I shot quite a bit of video of local scenes and life. The kingdom is slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey and about the same size as Kruger Park in South Africa.

We stayed on the main highway and drove through the countryside. It seemed like there was lots of farmland and little forestation. We also passed by the Royal Compound, but could not get to close. It was surrounded by a high wall and security. The kingdom appeared very clean and we saw no evidence of refuse along the roads or around the populated areas. All in all my impressions of Swaziland at that time were very favourable. It seemed quiet, peaceful, safe and clean. Prices for services such as hotels, food, etc, were slightly less than in South Africa.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

One of the most memorable things about Swaziland was that during our time there a young golfing phenom from the USA played and won the Royal Swazi Golf Tournament. His name John Daly. He also won a tournament in Johannesburg shortly thereafter and was a very popular figure in both places. We finished our short vacation in Swaziland (now eSwatini)and returned to South Africa and our adventurous lives. Everything seemed right with the world.