ESWATINI 2024

Welcome to Eswatini!

We had little of expectations of Eswatini. The visa process had proved difficult again for our Romanian traveller in tow, but with a trip to the embassy in London with no notice we managed to sort a visa out for a small sum of £15. We decided to cross this small nation and extend our chances of seeing the big five safari animals by staying at the Hlane Royal National Park. This was also well located to split our drive across the country up.

After having spent a few days in Mozambique we were pleasantly surprised by how good the roads were, how friendly the people were and in general how easy and tourist friendly everything was. Petrol stations and shops were very limited though, as were large dwellings of people and it was very strange to find a sort of retail park / mall area with everything you need in one place and everyone have to drive/travel to it for anything they might need.

Driving here in general was very easy, we didn't have to worry about potholes or dirt and gravel roads, traffic was light and drivers were generally safe and took their time avoiding unnecessary risky manoeuvres. The weather also had improved and we had warm and pleasant days. It was also interesting to see how much greener the country was than both South Africa & Mozambique with sugar cane being grown almost everywhere. Also the fact it was all signed as the "Kings" sugar cane.

Camp & Self Drive

Entrance to the Hlane Royal Nation Park was via a huge gate, and series of smaller gates. It was very akin to something out of Jurassic Park. We were stuck behind a school bus so entrance took a while, but aside from this it was a simple process and we were handed a very poor map of the park for our Self-Drive safari.

We stayed at the Ndlovu Camp which is where most guided game drives depart from. The camp has no electricity so at night Paraffin lamps and candles are provided for lighting needs. This helps to keep the cost down and also provides a unique experience. We did book a room with a fridge and were intrigued as to how it'd function without electricity. It was in fact very much like a reverse gas boiler with a large gas tank outside which fed a burner and compressor inside which in turn cooled the fridge. I would have never thought such a thing would exist. Or course with no electricity came no Wi-Fi and no charging of camera equipment. We had prepped ahead though and brought additional camera batteries and power banks with us.

The most amazing part of the Ndlovu camp is that it's located around one side of a large watering hole. During the heat of the day the Black Rhinos & Hippos come here to bath and cool off in the water and surrounding mud. Lots of other wildlife such as gazelles, giraffe and wart hogs along with many birds also spend time here. This makes it an easy place to see lots of wildlife in comfort, even with a cold beer in hand. We didn't spend to long at the watering hole before departing on a self-drive safari in the park.

You are allowed to drive through most of the Hlane Royal National Park. It is not a large area, but the tracks are small, narrow and have almost road bumps forcing you to stay around 15 to 20kmh so it does take a while to get around. We didn't explore too far as only had a small amount of time before our evening game drive and we didn't want to miss that. Every so often areas of the park are separated by fencing you have to hop out and open which adds to the whole experience. The only area you aren't allowed to self-drive in is the Lion area. This is for general safety and ensuring the Lions are kept separate from some of the other areas of the park. For the most part we only saw deer (many types), giraffe and wart hogs. However we did get some very good views of the Rhinos leaving the water hole from the back side of it away from camp as they came out of the bush and crossed the road. The driving conditions were on the whole very good, but for the more off the main road tracks I'd still recommend a capable four-wheel drive over any all-wheel drive vehicles. There are also mud tracks in certain areas which are closed after rain, but we didn't have the time to venture onto those.

Sunset Game Drive

This would be our second guided game drive having missed out our first planned Sunset Game Drive and also again our second one planned in Kruger due to a late start out of Makalali. As such we were keen to see what animals we would see and also enjoy being driven rather than having to navigate ourselves.

The game drive started on similar paths to those that we had driven earlier in the day on our self-drive. However, we then entered the Lion area and after some work we managed to find two lions sleeping having recently eaten a kill. We spent a while with the lions watching them be lazy, roll around and clean themselves. The sun was starting to set at this point so we made a move to let them have some peace and to see what other animals we would find. We were then treated to a pair of elephants and it was nice to watch the sun come down behind them as we enjoyed the first of our two drinks on the safari. After a while watching the elephants we skirted back round to see if we could find the lions again, they had moved but we soon found them nearby. We watched them for a little while longer before heading out of the lion enclosure on route to our spot to watch sunset with our second drink of the game drive, a local bottle of beer.

In general the safari was very comfortable, without excessive driving to see the animals. Seeing lions is always a plus and you can never spend too long watching elephants. The guides were also very knowledgeable and the drivers safe. The vehicles were also well equipped and came with a top tent canopy meaning you were protected somewhat from the sun and also rain had we been unfortunate enough for it.

Rhino Walk & Game Drive

When we had booked the accommodation we hadn't known that we'd have been so lucky to have already viewed Rhinos in Makalali and also simply resting at the camps watering hole. From our experience Rhinos are one of the most exotic and rare to see animals. As such when we had seen it offered to not only do a specific game drive to see rhinos but also to be able to get out and walk with them, we jumped at the opportunity. For the two in our party who'd never been on a safari before this trip we kept this as a nice little surprise for them.

The rhino walk departed early as the sun was just starting to come up. We were the only four people to book on this trip and so we had plenty of space and oppourtunity to raise questions with the guide. It wasn't long into our drive until we spotted some rhinos in the bush, very well camouflaged. These weren't suitable to walk with due to the dense bush, but seeing them did make us wonder how many we might have simply driven past without noticing even at such close proximity.

A few minutes further up the road the guide hopped out and checked and came back to inform us that he had found a group of rhinos in a clearing we could get to through a bush. We all hoped out and navigated our way through the bush, hiding behind barren trees as we approached the group of six rhinos of mixed ages. This was an amazing view, we weren't too close at this point but we soon would be. We continued to approach indirectly taking a wide arch not to spoke them. Unfortunately a large deer had appeared in the bush and was startled by us and it took some time for the rhinos to settle back down to our presence. Several of our group got unnervey as we got close to the rhinos especially once there was no bush separating us from them. At our closest I'd say we were within ten metres of the rhinos. This was close enough for us all and after spending some time we left.

The guide later informed us that he can sit almost next to the rhinos as they know him, additionally that we would only be taken to walk with rhinos he knows and knows to be friendly. On our way back to camp we found two more large rhinos and were informed that these ones we would not be allowed to walk with as they were less tolerant shall we say. We soon experienced this when they stood off with the jeep we were in. It was still amazing to see these big powerful creatures so many times, so varied and so up close.

The rhino drive only lasts about 90 minutes, in comparison a full game drive usually takes 2.5 to 3 hours. Having said that I feel that this was the perfect amount of time to spend viewing and walking with rhinos and I'd recommend it to anyone who gets the chance. This would also be our last self of guided game drive of the trip as we moved on south away from the larger game areas.