Swaziland is a small developing nation in southern Africa. Several
well-developed facilities for tourism are available. The capital is
Mbabane.Swaziland 's rural charm and peaceful and friendly kingdom draws loads
of travellers, especially those who come to see cultural events like the annual
reed dances at the Royal Kraal in Lobamba.Swaziland is landlocked in the east by
Mozambique and on the other borders by South Africa.
Swaziland is famous for it arts and crafts. You cannot leave without
visiting, and most likely buying, some of the most exquisite crafts in Africa.
The smallest country in Africa is also one of the most easy going - laid-back
Swazis are more likely to celebrate for fun than demonstrate for reform. A
progressive and hands-on attitude towards wildlife preservation has endowed it
with a striking bunch of national parks.
Black and white rhino, elephant, and more recently, lion, have been
reintroduced into the collection of national parks and game reserves. You can
trek, horse ride, raft on wild rivers or cycle through many of the parks and get
surprisingly close to a huge variety of wildlife.
While one or two towns get a little rough around the edges after dark, the
tension palpably lifts if you have crossed into Swaziland from South Africa.
Some of the more important festivals turn the Ezulwini ('Heaven') Valley into a
brilliant spectacle of dancing and singing a couple of times a year, as
tribespeople decked out in flamboyant costumes reaffirm their belief in the
monarchy and their culture. There may be only one museum in the country and
little in the way of night-time diversions besides gambling in the casino, but
the countryside's thriving and the life's wild.
It is something of a topographical jumble. Within a roughly oval shape only
193km long from north to south and much less east to west, God has contrived
there to be everything from peaks and upland plateaux, through rolling grassland
in the middleveld to the hot, arid bush of the lowveld on the Natal border.
Swaziland is divided into four distinct regions which are easily explored
without the need to travel great distances: the eastern Lubombo plateau; the low
bush country of the lowveld; the hilly middle-veld or grasslands; and the
mountains, forests and waterfalls of the highveld in the west. The vegetation
varies according to the regions, from the high summer rainfall area of the
highveld in the west to the dryer lowveld areas in the east. Summers are very
hot in the lowveld eastern areas but temperate in the highveld. Winters in the
highveld are typically beautiful and sunny during the day with chilly mornings
and evenings while the lowveld winters are always warm.