The short sugar stop: Day 25 – 27

Sishebe Rock, Swaziland.

Songimvelo Nature Reserve on the border of Swaziland

We left early and starting weaving our way along the back gravel roads of the Elephant Coast and Maputaland to Swaziland. We we’re surprised by the magical Pongola Lake just after Jozini town lying as still as glass in the valleys and stretching far into the horizon. We passed game reserve after game reserve until we reached the Lavumisa Swazi border. Our second border crossing, into the second of the last three remaining Kingdoms in Africa, went by breezily again, and we were on the road to Manzini in no time.

Swaziland, even though almost completely surrounded by South Africa, has a very unique feel to it. We sensed a relaxed yet organized atmosphere, where the people do what needs to be done, but with a sense of enjoyment. We landed up staying at Swazi Backpackers just outside Manzini, and just up the road from the legendary House on Fire. The House on Fire was the highlight of our short stop in Swaziland for sure…local rural artworks, weaving, ceramics, sculptures, crazy gaudy architecture with creatures and patterns of all kinds faceted on every wall...it was a truly inspiring scene to behold. We were 4 days short of the Bushfire music and arts festival, which takes place every year at the House on Fire, and where people come from all over the world to see local and international musicians for a weekend of off-the-wall experiences.

The crazy and creative House on Fire, Manzini.

After walking around enthralled by the colourful and one-of-a-kind creativity, we stocked up on some more sugarcane, and continued on our way. We passed through Mbabane alongside Sishebe Rock, through plantations and Piggs Peak, racing time on slow gravel roads to get to the Bulembu border on time. The winding roads through the bluegum plantations got the better of us, and we landed up getting to the border half and hour too late! After trying our luck and begging the border past officers to let us through (to no avail), we backtracked to the small town of Bulembu, where we camped on the bowls field of the Bulembu Country Club…right near the border. A nearly-never-visited town, Bulembu still had notices on the wall from 1986 in the abandoned sports club!

We set off at the crack of dawn, got through the border quickly and smoothly (at the right time), and set off for Nelspruit. We drove through the majestic Songimvelo Nature Reserve, another unexpected gem in the middle of seemingly nowhere, which brought back memories of Lesotho with the rolling landscape of mountains, and waved good-bye to the fields and rock formations and mountains of the Swazi Kingdom.