Tuesday 8^th July, 2014…… More about Kruger Park…nearly all the roads are sealed so that in itself indicates what a tourist area this is….also yesterday morning when we left on our game drive there were acres and acres of land burned on one side of the road….again controlled burning so that the grass comes away fresh and to restrict the germination of the tree seeds which surprises us as the elephants are so destructive with the trees that we would have thought they would be trying to get as many trees growing as possible….also all sorts of speed limits in the park…30, 40, 50 and 60 km ph…they have the police with the speed cameras but they stand on the side of the road with the camera on a tripod…the first time we saw one on the open road we thought it was a surveyor but the joke is, in the park when they have a speed camera they have to have another guy standing alongside with a machine gun in case one of the wild animals step out!!  SA is really a long way behind the rest of the world when it comes to speed cameras………..and so we were up at 5 am again this morning for a 6 am start…we did about a 3 ½ hour game drive to get out of the park and onto the open highway again….then the landscape was banana plantations, acres of mango trees and sugar plantations….also a big sugar cane factory….we stopped at a supermarket for our guides to buy our food for the next 3 days….it is so cheap here…we bought 2 bottles of delicious Pinotage wine, toiletries, 1 kg of bananas and bakery goodies all for US$18…..and so by 11.30 am we had reached Jeppes Reef border to cross into Swaziland…pretty low key border leaving SA and then going into Swaziland and no visa needed….2 million people live in this part of SA but sadly nearly 18% have aids…their currency is Emalangine and it has the same value as the SA Rand….they don’t have a president…this is a kingdom with a King  Mswati III…..he has 12 wives and 4 girlfriends, talk about greedy!!  We stopped for a picnic lunch at a craft shop area and what very interesting things they had for sale….one thing that interested me was the sisal weaving…sisal is actually a plant that they grow to keep the cattle in but the women get the fibre, dry it, then dye it then weave it into beautiful baskets and all sorts of things…..also all the carving made from soap stone…there really are some very clever people and sadly the tourists come and pay peanuts for the goods….and so to our accommodation for the night……real African type chalets again with thatched roofs but this time we had a shower and toilet……very cold and it was yesterday too so we have had to get out the thermals but tonight we are at 1,200 metres….en route to our accommodation at Hawane Lodge the area looked just like Central Otago……Swaziland is in fact quite mountainous with little flat land…mostly mountains and generally undulating…..our guide took us back to Malatoja Nature Reserve where people go to do day walks…..as I said just like Central Otago with big boulders (lots of granite here)…he took us to a high point and then told us to walk back to the entrance of the park…it was blowing a gale and very chilly…we couldn’t see the point of the walk but it was good to get some exercise…..back at our accommodation it was dark and the lighting is so poor in these places we went and made ourselves comfortable in the restaurant beside their fire with our bottle of wine….come 7 pm and we had to troop in the dark to the back packers lodge where our guides were cooking dinner for us…we’re sort of getting used to this safari life….

Wednesday 9^th July, 2014……Left our accommodation at 8 am…we had no water at all coming out of the hot tap this morning as it had frozen so it was a cold morning wash again….and so the drive to the border back into SA it was sugar cane, sugar cane and more sugar cane…..we never realised just how much comes from this part of the world…..we travelled to the capital Mbabane, on a road that the Japanese built…….we just drove through the capital but it certainly had some good malls, banks and shops in general…..then we stopped at yet another craft market where our guide persuaded us to shop as it is a co-op kind of market….apparently the police didn’t get paid for 3 months last year and this really affected so many people……as usual  I questioned the guide on things and it transpired his father is from Swaziland but has gone to live in SA….the people are not happy with the king here who lives in absolute luxury and dictates everything that happens but the people dare not speak out or they will be punished…..Swaziland should be part of the SA economy and apparently Mandela tried to make this happen but of course the king was not going to give up his life of luxury…you often see these big bill boards about stopping corruption but from what we’ve seen the people at the top need to take a long hard look at themselves….and so it was to Lavumisa for our crossing back in SA…..a super big flash building  in Swaziland and SA…..nothing like the derelict buildings at the crossing at Jeppes Reef…and once again we were through in no time without any paperwork, just a stamp…..and so back in SA it was more sugar cane, it really is big business but it must keep a lot of people in a job….we stopped  at Pongola Game Reserve entrance and had a picnic lunch…at the entrance they had a shop that sold game meat and people were coming and going all the time and it looked like really good meat…our guides bought a whole lot, amongst it, warthog steaks which we have been told are very good so we are really looking forward to that…..we have now arrived at our tented (permanent tents) accommodation for tonight which have a shower and toilet….we are really in the middle of Mkuzi Game Reserve and we are told the animals wander freely so we don’t quite know what we are in for tonight….in SA and Swaziland we have also had the usual cows strolling across the road  (and the goats and the donkeys)….the cows have such big horns……there are never any fences and in both countries the cattle just seem to graze on the long grass and the shrubby bushes….very different to our dairying but the cattle do look healthy……the others have just gone on a game drive but Michael and I have opted to enjoy this space and catch up on a few things….M & F