Once we learned that we could only get a 7-day visa for South Africa, we decided to stay longer in Mozambique (until our visa runs out) and after that spent some time in Swaziland to ‘fill up' our time until we could enter South Africa again (exactly 7 days before our flight to Bangkok).

The border of Swaziland turned out to be the easiest crossing so far. A busy but friendly customs officer date-stamped our passes, no visa charges, no car register asking for the vehicle identification number, the engine number, the weight of the car, engine content, number of seats, color, owner details, etc. Instead, we only had to pay a modest car entry fee of 50 Emalangeni (about 5 Euro). We entered Swaziland in the North-East, via the Lebombo Mountains (or rather Lebombo Hills), and liked the atmosphere the country breathed.

Our first night we stayed in Simunye Country Club, which had a nice swimming pool and a bed for everybody, so no sharing of beds required. It turned out that they had free and reasonably fast Internet there so we updated our weblog and read our e-mails. The next morning we were invited by the (South African!) managers to watch their pythons being fed, an experience that sticks. Living chickens were fed to the Birmese Pythons, who killed them quickly, and swallowed them whole. The guy also had a couple of cobras and other snakes, who were being fed also.

Close to Simunye there was Hlane National Park, where we camped for 4 nights. This was a beautiful national park, with lots of white rhino's right in front of the bar and sitting area. Really impressive animals when watched from such a close distance. We met with Jan and Jolanda and their daughters Zoey and Isis, who really hit it off with Lasse and Sil, even though they were only 2 and 4 of age. Jan and Jolanda were travelling the world for a year, and had been travelling for 7 months already, with Africa being their last stretch. We baby-sitted each other's children so each couple could go on a walking safari together (no kids allowed). A peculiar experience, to be standing 4-5 meters away from a couple of full-grown rhino's that are looking intensely at you (they're nearly blind). We also saw lots of nyala's, warthogs, waterbucks (even an albino one), giraffe and a huge crocodile (pretending to be sleeping). Our guide did his best to avoid running into elephants, as they were with baby's and very dangerous. The weather became very hot, over 35 degrees celsius, and together with Jan, Jolanda and their kids, we went to Simunye Country Club to cool down in the swimming pool and use the Internet.

On our last day we were visited by Tinus and Ronelda, who had been in Maputo for business (placing orders for building materials for their Lodge at Covane). That was a really nice surprise. They knew from an email that we extended our stay in Hlane, and decided to visit the camp where they once had been the managers for some time. We learned from them that the last days there had been severe riots in Maputo over increasing food and gasoline prizes, and that the city had become very unsafe; about 10 people had been killed, dozens wounded and several shops looted and burnt! Can you imagine, one week ago we were there, and we were impressed with the friendly and relaxed atmosphere the city breathed!

Our last action at Hlane was a sunset safari-drive, during which we saw a male lion from very close and a group of male elephants. How impressive, when a lion looks at you from such a close distance! On our last night at Hlane we had dinner at a paraffin lamp (no electricity at the camp), spotted an owl under the restaurant roof, and enjoyed a very cozy night, again with all 4 of us in one tent, as the zipper of the tent of the boys did not close and we were afraid of unwanted nightly visitors........

Time for a new place, Big Bend was our choice. We first went to Simunye Country Club again, to charge our mobile phone and use the Internet. We had to arrange documents from home to be able to sell our Disco and get the money out of South Africa again. We also had to pay our travel agent for postponing our flight out of Cape Town. We did this to make our time in Cape Town more efficient in light of selling our Disco, as we counted on getting a 7-day visa only for South Africa.

When we (finally) arrived in Big Bend, it turned out to be just what the Lonely Planet had described: a sleepy village amidst sugarcane fields and with a sugarcane factory. We could not find a place to sleep that we liked. We could get a room in a very run-down place, but the place lacked a heart and they asked a high price because there was a conference being held in town. We decided to cut through the inlands over gravel roads to Manzini, a larger town close to Mbabane, the capital. The drive through the inlands showed us that Swaziland also knows poverty, little villages with reed huts, dirty people and hungry children. Along the main roads you get a totally different picture of Swaziland, looking fairly prosperous and with an active economy, the people well dressed and educated.

We found a nice place to stay, Myxo's Backpackers, an old farm, away from the main road, close to Manzini. It had a relaxed atmosphere, with Myxo's sister, his kids and her kids playing around and Myxo's mother continuously baby-sitting the children. Lasse and Sil played with the local kids; amazing to see how they pick up English and even more amazing to see how they use their little knowledge of the language to communicate with other kids. We gave one of our tents to Myxo's sister, who was very happy with it and in return gave us some nice wooden carved figures (much to Claudia's delight). On our last day we visited the market in Manzini; a real maze of little stalls and shops, everything for sale (including products made from galvanized sheet from DVL3, Corus' new galvanizing line), and of course also a complete quarter where they were selling handicraft souvenirs. Sil bought a nice wooden crocodile here, with his name engraved in it.

Our next stop, which turned out to be our last stop in Swaziland, was the Horse Shoe Estate, near Mankayana. It was owned by Rusty and Gerda Evans (Tinus' sister). Unfortunately, Rusty and Gerda just left for Cape Town, but they instructed Elias, their main employee, about us and we were allowed to use one of their cottages for free (apparently Tinus had called his sister and told them about us). The only downside being there was no electricity, as they were repairing the power supply. However, they left some paraffin lamps for us and we put our freezer on gas, and thus managed to make ourselves very comfortable! We used our last week in Swaziland to do some home-schooling of Lasse and Sil (of course; they both nearly finished block 3 of 10!), but also to clean, wash and polish our Disco and sort out all our camping equipment. Much of our camping equipment (tent, extra blankets), together with our old shoes and some old clothes we gave to Elias, asking him to share it with his fellow workers at the farm.

After some days we met Rusty Evans, who returned from Cape Town. He gave us advice on the best route to Cape Town, after which we decided to remain at his cottage until it was time to go back to South Africa. We used our last days for some sight-seeing. We had already visited the House on Fire, a cultural venue with Internet café, bar and restaurant. House on Fire was literally out of the ordinary, creatively made with soul and love. Next, went to Khopho camp, a beautiful hiking lodge made by a local community, which was entirely situated in/between large rocks, with a magnificent view over the river below. The next day we visited Ngwenya glass factory, where they make the most beautiful sculptures from used glass (very impressive to see the routines of the glass blowers and their helpers). Later the same day, we visited an old iron-ore mine, which was depleted in the seventies, but where Bushmen already extracted hematite (a.k.a. red ochre for use in rituals and rock-paintings), 40.000 years BC! Even Claudia became exited about iron ore, as she learned that Himba women today still use the same red ochre on their skins. On our last day we hiked to Sibebe Rock, a large monolithic rock, just like Ayers Rock in Australia, however, without the many visitors that Ayers Rock attracts. Although Lasse and Sil were not really in the mood for hiking, we thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful scenery.

When we left Holland, Peter's colleagues gave us a small portrait of Queen Beatrix, in case we got homesick. We left it on the fridge of our apartment, so she could keep the king of Swaziland some company. On our last night we went to bed wondering what would happen tomorrow at the border with South Africa.....