May 20 - eSwatini aka Swaziland

From here, we headed north to eSwatini, formerly known as Swaziland. As we had come to expect, we shared the road with goats, donkeys, and cows. It was a distressing to see people riding in the back of trucks, and really distressing to children doing so.

We made a stop at the Swazi Candles for some serious shopping. I scored some Shweshwe fabric placemats and napkins.

Our accommodation for the night is at the Royal Villas in Lobamba, located about 10 minutes from the capital of Mbabane. Each group of two of us had our own full-sized villa. The one that Sandy and I were in had four bedrooms (we could only see ours – the others were locked), two sitting areas, a dining room, a backyard pool, and a separate kitchen. These villas would be an attractive set up for family vacations. There are full conference facilities at this site.

We had a long, leisurely dinner in the restaurant there and then hit the sack early. We had seen and done a lot since our 5:00 a.m. wake up.Read more