SWAZILAND

Come to the Kingdom of Swaziland and catch the sunset over the veld and wait in anticipation at a waterhole or hold your breath as the lion stalks his prey in the grassy plains. Deep purple mountain peaks dressed in a cloak of fine grey mist look down on rolling Savannah and the deep valley of Ezulwini, mighty rivers crash and explode their way down gorges and waterfalls flash silver in a tiny landlocked country in South Africa.

Pretty as a picture and as exotic as any fantasy, Swaziland is Africa epitomized. This is where you can meet people that are warm, friendly and hospitable enough to make complete strangers feel at home, you can watch nimble fingers weave magic out of ordinary threads and see a hunk of wood transform into a smooth, shiny bowl.

Capital:Lobamba, Mbabane

Best time to visit:

  1. Swaziland has a fairly temperate climate that is pleasant most of the year, even though summers are hot and winters are mild.
  2. October is the warmest month while the period between December and April receives plenty of rainfall – but this is when the countryside looks all well washed, fresh and green.

Minimum days required:  5 days

Places of Interest:

  1. Hlane Royal National Park
  2. Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary
  3. Mlawula Nature Reserve
  4. Mbuluzi Game Reserve
  5. Hawane Nature Reserve

Climate:

  1. Swaziland has a subtropical type of climate that changes along with the topography and altitude.
  2. The plains or the Lowveld has tropical clime, and receives between 500-900mm of annual rainfall. Despite that certain areas tend towards the semiarid.
  3. The Highveld, home to most of the Swazi designated game parks and its fauna has a temperate climate with high humidity as the annual rainfall touches highs of 2,300mm.
  4. The Middle Veld and Lebombo Range have a more subtropical type of climate with annual precipitation figures in between the high and low veld figures. Most rain falls between November and March.
  5. Summers tend to be very hot, particularly on the plains while temperatures are distinctly more tolerable and temperate in the high altitude regions.
  6. These higher reaches are usually covered in a moist cloud of mist and require warm clothing, even in the summer months.
  7. The warmest and the wettest period fall between October and May, June and September are cool and dry. Average day temperatures range from 6º to 25º C in June and 15º-25º C in January and February.

Currency:  Lilangeni and Emalangeni

Things to carry:

  1. Casual, comfortable wash and wear clothing is most useful for the time spent exploring the sights while evening wear is required for the up market restaurants with dress codes.
  2. However, the few essential items required for a trip to Swaziland would be bush clothing – safari jackets and trousers, a light sweater or jacket for the cooler evenings in the open, hats, sunscreen creams with high SPFs and sunshades.
  3.  Medication that should be carried in a first aid kit should be the basic anti fever, anti histamine and antiseptics. It is important to travel light as trips could involve flying in small aircrafts.

How to get there:

Air:

  1. Swaziland’s international terminal, Matsapha Airport is just a short distance of 5km from the city of Manzini.
  2. The national carrier Royal Swazi National Airways Corporation flies to and from many destinations in Africa and to some places in Europe. Airport facilities include banks and money exchange bureaus, restaurants, cafes and car rental companies.
  3.  Taxis that are available outside the main arrival terminus can be hired to cover the distance to the city centre