3rd July
OR Tambo International Airport to Eswatini



At 6am I was awake and didn't really have a plan, beyond "go to Swaziland"
The King has proclaimed Swaziland will henceforth be known as Eswantini but I haven't as yet managed to get it to roll off the tongue

I had informed myself of the existence of the 4 way stop and yellow line driving in South Africa. What I had not prepared for was all of the traffic lights around OR Tambo being out of action- so does that make the intended traffic light controlled right turns onto the highway a 3 way stop or...? I discovered at this point that I had not had enough sleep for driving in South Africa

Happily once I was onto the motorway things were a lot more straightforward The highway took me as far as Wonderfontein. The many coal fired power plants and signs warning of "no stopping: high crime area" were an unusual accompaniment


Turning off the highway onto the road to Carolina also brought a new entertainment. I had been warned to expect potholes. However when I found a car on the wrong side of the road heading towards me at high speed, my first thought was "yeah mate just drive on whatever side of the road why don't you". Getting closer I discovered that weaving all over the carriageway was in fact the pragmatic approach given that basically the entire road was a pothole- and, weirdly a series of square potholes, where I can only assume the idea is to cut out the pothole to make it easier to fill in? Any insight appreciated on this point

Eventually I made it safely to the border


The South African side of the border was fairly straightforward and painless
The Eswatini side was where things got interesting
I had been organised and got the approval letter for taking the car over the border from the rental agency. However this was never checked
I noticed that no one else was stopping at the kiosk marked "gate passes". The guy manning it seemed to be happy to let me drive past so I assumed it was intended for pedestrian traffic only
I queued for admission to Eswatini; was stamped in and allowed to leave. Then someone shouted "wait! where's your gate pass?". I did my best impersonation of a complete idiot and someone took pity on me and produced a partially stamped gate pass. However I was instructed to proceed to the next counter to pay 50 rand for road toll
The police man at the boom gate asked when I was taking him to Australia with me, and I was on my way

I headed up the Piggs peak road, taking in many beautiful vistas and even more rear end views of logging trucks, errant cattle and unsignposted, very high speed bumps





I made for the Phophonyane falls for a spot hiking around the waterfall and some monkeys





My ultimate destination was Maguga lodge, at the Maguga dam. I encountered a police stop on the way there. The policeman asked if i was from Australia, impersonated a kangaroo, then asked when I was taking him there. I said my husband didn't like that kind of thing so he let me go






Maguga lodge was a delightful place consisting of a number of en suite rondavels overlooking the dam (I apologise at this point, the photos of the room seem to have got lost in the ether). Impalas roamed the grounds. There was a pool but it was far to cold to be using. I got the distinct impression I was the only person staying; the staff were extremely keen to please. There was however some confusion with my reservation and the upshot was that I ended up paying twice. The room rate was an extremely reasonable AU$46 and I was eventually refunded the 2nd payment

I took some time to hike up to a San rock art site within the hotel grounds. A track for local people ran along the fence line and evidently my appearance was a source of some confusion (seems solo female travel is not much of a thing here)


For dinner I was very well looked after as the only patron in the restaurant. I started with a Sibebe beer, very nice, and followed with a local oxtail stew with lipalishi (pap)



I took in sunset from the deck and then headed to bed