In Africa - Swaziland

It's a land of  mountains, not the steep high craggy kind, but rather rolling kind, smoothed over from millions of years of wear.  They are dotted with small farms and small towns.  Although the weather is ideal, a smog from burning fields may cloud your vision if the wind blows the wrong way.

Swaziland is a land of extremes - a kingdom run by man for almost 40 years with 14 palaces, one for each wife surrounded by subsistence farmers and struggling town dwellers selling wares and foods from ramshackle stands.  The middle class is small.  It's not growing and thriving like Botswana as the king and his family and certain government officials take "a percentage" of every investment.

People are quiet, not talking about politics. Talking critical can land you in jail as two Swazi journalists discovered when they criticized the king.  You may have read about it recently.  I was not allowed to take pictures at the airport.  Not very welcoming to say the least.  However, it is also a land of kindness, persistence, and hope.

It was Bush Fire Music Festival weekend so there was no room at the inns or hotels.  We bedded down for a couple of days at the country director's home, hosted by his welcoming wife and kids.  After a full day of meetings with staff and Volunteers about the technology situation,  we went with the locals to the festival Friday night.  A parade of brightly costumed men walking on stilts waving flaming torches preceded loud, rhythmic, beating singers on the main stage.  Around the perimeter were an array of outdoor, craft markets, eateries with everything from grilled chicken, steaks, ribs and even some very decent pizza combined with a multitude of libations.  All of this took place  under a clear sky filled with the southern cross swimming the a milky way sea.  A perfect venue for this charity event to raise money for HIV and AIDS prevention.

Of course, the visit didn't start so well.  Although the flight went well and we arrived on time, two of our bags didn't.  The young girl at the Gaborone check-in counter only checked John's bags to Johannesburg, not all the way through to Mazzini. Luckily, my bag had my clean clothes.  John made do for the day on his tour into the countryside for lunch with a  homestead   family.  He even ate lamb stew from the communal bowl (and didn't get sick).  Our bags did get recovered that afternoon by one of the post's drivers.  Patience is the watchword.

On Saturday morning, sharp at 10AM we were in a van traveling to our next and last destination - the Grand Lodge Resort just off Kruger National Park.  In just about three hours we were going on a twilight safari!