Eswatini Day Trip (from Maputo)

Thursday, February 6, 2025

It was difficult for me to wake up this morning when, at 05:00, my alarm sounded. I had showered the night before so I quickly threw on my clothes and went down to the lobby to meet my driver for today’s tour. He arrived shortly thereafter and I was surprised to learn that I was the only tourist on today’s tour! I’m always slightly hesitant when on a private tour because I feel socially awkward with the tour guides sometimes – I don’t have the best social skills with strangers and the silences can be uncomfortable. Happily the tour guide today (whose name I unfortunately cannot recall) was very easy to talk with throughout our long drive.

The day trip today was a full-day tour of neighboring Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and required a very long drive in the morning in order to reach our destinations inside the country. During the drive, my guide talked a lot about life in Mozambique, answering my myriad of questions – I learned so much from him! Just before 07:00 we arrived at the border of Mozambique and Eswatini, where we had to wait a short time until the offices opened. Both exiting Mozambique and entering Eswatini were quick and easy, especially since we were one of the first people in the queue. The biggest surprise to me was the stark difference between the two countries passport control offices. Mozambique was a basic building and everything was done by hand, but the one for Eswatini was far more modern and everything was done digitally. The relative wealth of the two countries was clearly on display just from this simple comparison.

Country 133: Eswatini

Now that we had entered Eswatini, we drove a couple more hours to reach a national park. The park reminded me a lot of the various campsites that I had stayed at during my African safari trip back in 2016: large camping areas with a large central lodge for meals. We parked and walked over to the property’s fence so we could look out at a watering hole to see some wildlife. I was overjoyed to see several rhinos in the area, most of them lying down, but one was up and slowly walking around! I love rhinos and I’d had to wait several weeks during my African safari trip before finally seeing one – to see several of them today was a phenomenal treat! I sat down on a log bench and stared in awe at the rhinos for quite a while.

My guide suggested that we get some coffee at the restaurant lodge. I needed some coffee to help wake me up, so I eagerly agreed. The staff were very nice and joked around with us while we got our coffees. Drinks in hand, we returned to the fence so we could watch the rhinos. I could not think of a better way to start the tour in Eswatini! Unfortunately we couldn’t stay at the park for too long since we still had a lot to do during the day, so we finished our coffees and departed. As we made our way out of the park, we spotted several impala and zebras along the side of the dirt road. The guide was scanning for giraffes because he said they are usually in the area. It began raining, which made visibility rather poor, but he soon stopped the car and backed up down the road – he had spotted some giraffes! When we came to a stop, we spotted several of them together to one side of the road. The animal sightings were exciting and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

We then drove deeper into the country so we could visit a cultural village. When we reached the village, we first drove down to see a small waterfall. The road had been partially washed out from earlier rains, so we parked and walked the rest of the way. The waterfall was very pretty in the distance and the entire area was very peaceful. Returning to the car, we drove back to the cultural village where I would be given a guided tour by a local villager.

A guided tour of the village was just beginning by the time we arrived, so I rushed over to the tour guide. There were three other tourists there as well. The cultural village is a showcase of the traditional homes and way of life of the tribal people of the country. The living arrangements of the men and women, organized by hierarchy, were explained to us and we had the opportunity to go inside several of the huts. The village is not very large and the tour lasted about 20 minutes, during which time the guided taught us a lot about the people and their lives.

Once the tour was done, we were led to a large building where the villagers would be performing for us today. They came out in beautiful traditional clothing and both sang and danced for us. The women had really good voices and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them perform. At one point several of the performers came over to us and asked us to join in on the dancing. I was initially reluctant to join in because I have absolutely zero dancing ability whatsoever – even the simplest of dances are beyond my capabilities. However, the woman was very kind and said she would teach me everything, so I joined her on the stage. The dance was simple and I soon got into the rhythm, all thanks to the woman who patiently taught me. It ended up being a lot of fun (though thankfully it lasted only a few minutes so I didn’t have to embarrass myself in front of everyone for too long!).

When our time at the village came to an end, I was happy to hear that it was time for us to stop for lunch. Since we’d had such an early start to the day, I hadn’t yet eaten anything today, so I was quite hungry. Thankfully the restaurant was nearby, so we didn’t have far to drive. The restaurant was a large outdoor place and there were only a few customers there when we arrived. I was given a large table on the patio and then my guide left to eat on his own. The menu was quite extensive and I ordered a meat platter with a variety of meats. Before the entrée arrived, some bread and butter was brought out for me to nibble on. The bread was warm and fresh from the oven – it was delicious! The main course was a large serving and each of the different meats was equally tasty. I struggled to finish everything on the plate, though I did my best.

The final stop of today’s tour of Eswatini was at a local candle shop. I usually loathe these types of stop because they are pushy with sales, but happily that was not the case today. I was given a short explanation on how they make the candles and mold them into the shapes of various African big game animals (elephants, rhinos, etc). I then walked around the store, though most of the merchandise they had did not appeal to me. However, I did find a small magnet with a rhino on it, as well as a white candle shaped like a rhino that I ended up buying as souvenirs.

We then began the long drive back to Maputo, during which I fell asleep. I woke up when we reached the border and felt bad that I had slept for so long, but the driver laughed and assured me that it was okay. We crossed through a different border control point than the one in the morning, but the process and facilities were similar. Once back in Mozambique, we were stopped by a check point military guard. My driver had warned that they usually ask for bribes, so I was prepared. The officer checked the car and our IDs, and he asked a few questions – everything was routine. Then he mentioned how hot it was and asked me for some water. I played dumb and pretended not to understand, but he kept asking for some water. I held up my bottle and offered it to him, at which point he laughed and waved us on our way. The driver explained to me that he had been trying to get money for “water” but which would end up in his pocket – the guards have access to plenty of water. We laughed about the experience as we drove back to the city.

I arrived back at the hotel at 18:00, just as the guide had predicted earlier in the day. The day tour was magnificent, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute! I thanked my guide several times when he dropped me off. I then went up to my room to relax before dinner. As with the night before, I ate in the hotel restaurant and I ordered a chicken pasta for dinner.

My time in Mozambique was coming to an end, and I felt both sad and excited. My visit had been very short and I wished that I could see more of the country, but the only big thing that I was missing was the beach (and I am not a beach person whatsoever, so it wasn’t a big deal for me). I was excited to continue my adventure and visit my next new country tomorrow! I spent the rest of the evening packing my bags before heading to bed.