Swaziland R&R

We’ve just returned from a bit of R&R in Swaziland and South Africa. Swazi is a small country and we drove in a big loop and saw quite a bit of it. We stayed in Bulembu, up in the corner next to SA. It was an asbestos mining town that was abandoned when the mine was closed. It was given to a Christian organization that is working with abandoned children and orphans, HIV/AIDS programs, a school, a clinic, a church, Teen Challenge and more. They are trying to create jobs by running a timber project, a lodge and a honey project. You can read more about them at www.bulembu.org. It is surrounded by mountains and beautiful scenery. To get there we had to travel 18 kms on a dirt road but the reward was that it was very calm and quiet. There were no city noises outside our windows when we slept, just the sounds of nature. Another plus was that it was cooler than Maputo.

One day we went to SA for an appointment and wished we had taken our camera as the mountain scenery was amazing. We saw emerald mountains as well as blue and darker green. We did get a picture outside the lodge, although the colors aren’t quite as nice as they were in person.


We also saw lots and lots of flowers. I was surprised to see so many flowers that we have at home: daisies, roses, hydrangeas, iris, coreopsis, butterfly bush growing everywhere wild, dahlias of many colors. These were mixed in with more tropical varieties like hibiscus and tulip trees plus many that I can't name and they were all beautiful. Here are just a few pictures so you get the idea.




On the way back we stopped at a waterfall. We found out we could take a 20 min hike to see it or a 1-3 hr. hike. We went on the 20-min. and it’s probably a good thing. I’m not sure I could walk at all if we had done the longer one! I think I’m in pretty good shape, after all I climb 60 stairs every time I go out the door and do so without huffing and puffing too much. But the steps down to the falls were really steep. This picture doesn’t show how steep it really was. It was worth the sore muscles and we had a great time.


Now we’re back in our regular routine after the holidays. Sunday morning we said goodbye to Jamene, our friend who has been with us since the end of October. The house seems empty without him.

We’re getting ready to move this weekend to a semi-temporary place, hopefuly several months. It’s a house owned by the Wesleyans and our landlords are wonderful people. We may keep looking, but we’ve found that the prices in Maputo are getting ridiculous – many ask $1,000/month for an unfurnished not very nice apartment. That’s about twice what rent was in 2005. Apparently there is not enough housing and people (mostly foreigners) are willing to pay the prices so they keep increasing. We’re thankful to have a place for now.