Swiftly to Swazi

We dashed to the Swaziland/Mozambique line intent on dodging midday traffic that Bodds and I have learned to associate with border-crossings. We succeeded and had an uneventful and waitless passport stamping. Even though it was 9am in the morning, Kulsum was chowing down on a Double Chocolate Magnum Ice Cream bar. After the border guard gave one longing look at the ice cream novelty, I reached into the backseat and handed him a cool Brisk iced tea. The tea once reserved for bribes was no longer needed as we waived Mozambique goodbye. A part of me was sad that I didn’t get a second, bolder attempt at bribery.

These thoughts were soon forgotten and we blazed a trail across the Kingdom—yes Kingdom—of Swaziland. After three hours of driving we were very near reentry into South Africa. We decided to find a backpackers hostel to put us up for a few nights. Unfortunately, the hostel that came widely recommended had no vacancy, but I figured it was about time for me to sack up (despite being without sleeping bag) and join Kulsum and Bodds in the tent they hauled around Southern African for the previous 3 weeks. In proved a long a cold night for me, but I was relieved to find that some beds had opened up by the time the second night had rolled around.

One of the most notable things about Swaziland was the attitude of its people. I’ve been to plenty of places where the people are kind and giving beyond all expectation (Turkey, Baghdad, and Tanzania spring to mind) but Swaziland took helpfulness and cheeriness to the next level. We were literally sitting in the turn lane at a red light deciphering a map, when a woman in the passenger seat of a car two lanes over engaged us just in case we might be lost (we were). She then provided us directions and arranged with her driver and the car that had arrived in the lane between us to let us pass ahead in order to make a turn in the opposition direction from the one we were preparing to take. Another time, when we were looking for the start to hike, a Swazi insisted he walk 5 minutes to the start of the trail with us to make sure we got started on the right path. Folks were always super helpful and never lingered expectant of tips.