Christmas Eve in Eswatini

 

The lions in HLANE National Park are sluggish during the day and their manes protrude from the tall grass as they yawn out loud. Young African antelopes are mostly caught by the more active female lions. Some months in Swazi language are named after animals. For example, October is named after the impalas. HLANE National Park covers an area of 22,000 hectares and animal numbers are kept secret.

Locals say the Swazi king and his companions used to go hunting in the park. It was mainly for this reason that the park was originally established. It has specially reserved areas for specific animals - lions, elephants, giraffes and rhinos. 

 

HLANE National Park (Eswatini)

We discover the animals only during the guided evening ride through the park, the Sunset Game Drive. The guide knows exactly where the animals hide from the daily heat. The white withered tree branches are twisted to the sides like hands calling for help. Groups of vigilant vultures sit on their tops.

Afterwards we spend Christmas Eve by the light of kerosene lamps. Roasted antelopes with red beetroots and letcho-style vegetables with polenta are served. A white owl watches us sceptically from the ceiling beam. The dinner is followed by a traditional program. Four guys drum loudly and about five barefoot women throw their feet in the air in the style of an African cancan. 

 

Herds of elephants and rhinos refresh themselves in the small lake in front of the NDLOVU Campsite before sunrise. Therefore we get up at four o´clock to observe them for a while. One of the small elephants does not like it and attempts to destroy the fence to get to us. However, he seems to become distracted by the rising sun.

We make just a short stop at the petrol station before leaving Eswatini. An about 8-year-old boy approaches us with his self-made jewellery. He does not attend school and asks for coke or ice-cream. 

 

Štedrý večer v Svazijsku

Levy a levice v Národnom parku HLANE sú počas dňa ťažkopádne a ich hrivy vytŕčajú z vysokej trávy, keď nahlas zazívajú. Na aktívnejšie levice doplatia najmä mladé africké antilopy- implaly. Vraj sú niektoré mesiace v svazijskom jazyku pomenované po zvieratách. Október nesie názov práve po impalách.

Národný park HLANE má rozlohu 22.000 ha a čísla zvierat sú držané v tajnosti. Miestni hovoria, že do parku kedysi chodieval na poľovačky aj svazijský kráľ so svojimi kumpánmi. Práve z tohto dôvodu vraj park vznikol. V parku sú špeciálne vyhradené areály pre konkrétne zvieratá- levy, slony a žirafy, nosorožce. 

 

 

Zvieratá objavíme až pri večernej jazde so sprievodcom Sunset Game Drive. Ten presne pozná úkryty zvierat pred horúčavou. Biele vyschnuté konáre sú vykrútené do strán ako ruky volajúce o pomoc. Na ich vrcholcoch posedávajú skupinky ostražitých supov.

Štedrý večer trávime pri svetle petrolejových lámp. Servírujú sa pečené antilopy s červenou repou, zeleninou na štýl leča a polentou. Zo stropného trámu nás skepticky pozoruje biely kuvik. Po večeri nasleduje tradičný program. Štyria chlapi hlasno bubnujú a a asi päť bosých žien vyhadzuje nohy do vzduchu na štýl afrického kankánu.

V jazierku pred kempingom NDLOVU sa pred východom slnka chodia ovlažiť stáda slonov či nosorožcov. 

 

 

On the road to Eswatini (Swasiland)

 

On the way to Eswatini we stop at the confluence of the Treur River und Blyde River. As a result of flowing water, red sandstone was eroded here gradually and a canyon, which grew into the Blyde River Canyon, was formed. Rotating rocks ground picturesque formations into the riverbed, named Bourke´s Lock Potholes after the gold digger Tom Bourke. It is said that he found his luck here in the form of a small amount of gold.

 

Bourke´s Lock Potholes

Then we continue along the winding Panaroma Route towards Eswatini´s Malolotje National Park. As we approach Eswatini the surrounding landscape changes. We drive through the Barberton Greenstone Belt, one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world, which extends from the South African region of Mpumalanga to Eswatini. The green belt of hills where the oldest microorganisms on earth have been found, nicknamed Genesis of Life, stretches across the horizon. The grassy hills with areas of barren land are partly covered with rocks, parts are overgrown with forest and the rest of them show off in their naked beauty. 

 

Barberton Greenstone Belt

There is just one other car waiting at the border Bulembu/Josefsdal. The South African car rental company gave us a special border crossing permit, which we show at the border together with our passports. Before entering the Kingdom of Eswatini a bored stout customs officer checks everything and asks about our plans. When she hears that we haven’t seen a rhino yet, she bursts out laughing. Her colleague first just listens curiously and then gives us a short lecture. He explains that the traditional sport of his country is soccer and that the last snow which fell in Eswatini was in 1996. Then they let us go.

Eswatini belongs to the countries in the world with the highest prevalence of HIV among adults aged 15 to 49 (27,2 %).Almost 40% of women with a first pregnancy in Eswatini are infected with the deadly HIV. According to the organization Hand in Hand Wiesbaden there are over 40,000 children who are AIDS orphans and have lost their parents to AIDS. The Covid-19-virus put the entire nation into even bigger dire straits, even though people and mainly children suffered here also before the Covid crisis from starvation as well as due to the high AIDS rates. Organizations such as Hand in Hand eV Wiesbaden (with its sister organization Hand in Hand Austria) have already implemented over 300 aid projects in Eswatini within the last 15 years and therefore provide many thousands of people with sustainable “help for self-help”. 

 

Landscape near the road to Malolotje National Park (Direction Piggs Peak)

Two white cows stand on the road beyond the border. We continue driving on the steep und bumpy MR20 road with views of the burned deforested hills divided by zigzag forest paths in the direction of Piggs Peak. The original forests were replaced by monocultural pine forests. These have mainly industrial use for wood production.

In Piggs Peak we drive through a busy main street past supermarkets, a bank and a petrol station. At the end of the street we find a street sign directing us to Malolotje National Park, our transit stop on the way to HLANE National Park.

Then we continue driving along the well maintained asphalt road MR21. The good quality infrastructure is built mainly around larger cities such as Mbabane or Manzini. 

 

© Franz Edler, Roundabout in Mbabane, Gwamile Street

After arriving at Malolotje National Park the laughing receptionist gives us various brochures and explains that they have many protected animals in the National Park including the special wolf Proteles cristata which, however, no one has ever seen yet. Is it possible that it does not really exist? Nobody knows. There is no electricity in the campsite as well as not enough hot water, only as much as the staff heats up in a large boiler.

Endemic antelopes called Blesbok graze on green pastures and the day begins to mix with the night like a Czech “cut beer”. The sky is pierced by bright stars grouped into completely different formations than in the northern hemisphere. Our only neighbors are a group of polite South African scouts who diligently collect´ wood for a hot shower. Large beetles similar to our cockchafers fly around and I suddenly feel the need to stay here for a few more days. However, next day we head to HLANE National Park. 

 

Malolotje National Park

 

Cesta do Svazijska

Na ceste do Svazijska sa zastavíme pri sútoku riek Treur River a Blyde River. Pod vplyvom tečúcej vody tu erodoval červený pieskovec a postupne vznikol kaňon, ktorý sa rozrástol do kaňonu Blyde River. Rotujúce skaly vymyli do útesov malebné útvary pomenované Bourke´s Luck Potholes po zlatokopovi Tomovi Bourkovi. Ten tu vraj našiel svoje šťastie vo forme malého množstva zlata.

Pokračujeme po kľukatej Panorama Route smerom do svazijského Národného parku Malolotje. Kľukatou cestou prechádzame cez Barberton Greenstone Belt-jedným z najstarších pohorí na svete, ktoré z juhoafrického regiónu Mpumalanga siaha až do Svazijska. Zelený pás kopcov, kde sa našli najstaršie mikroorganizmy na zemi, prezývaný Genesis of Life, sa tiahne po celom horizonte. Trávnaté kopce s neúrodnou zemou sú časťami pokryté skalami, časťami zarastené lesom a zvyšok z nich sa predvádza vo svojej nahej kráse. 

 

Na svazijskej hranici Bulembu/Josefsdal čaká okrem nás ešte jedno auto. Od juhoafrickej požičovne áut si treba vypýtať špeciálne povolenie na prechod cez hranice, ktoré na hraniciach predložíme spolu s našimi pasmi. Pred vstupom do svazijského kráľovstva nám znudená korpulentná colníčka všetko kontroluje a pýta sa na naše plány. Keď počuje, že sme ešte nikde nevideli nosorožca, nahlas sa rozrehoce. Jej kolega zvedavo načúva a dá sa s nami do reči. Dozvieme sa, že tradičným svazijským športom je soccer s sneh tam mali naposledy v roku 1996. 

Za hranicami na ceste postávajú dve biele kravy a po strmej a hrboľatej ceste MR20 s výhľadmi na vypálené, odlesnené kopce prerývané cikcakovitými lesnými cestami pokračujeme do prvého mestečka Piggs Peak. Pôvodné lesy nahradili monokultúrne borovicové lesy, ktoré majú najmä priemyselné využitie v oblasti drevovýroby.

 

Endemické antilopy v Národnom parku Malolotje

V Piggs Peak prechádzame rušnou hlavnou ulicou popri supermarketoch, banke aj benzínke a na konci objavíme tabuľu s nápisom Malolotje National Park. Ďalej už pokračujeme po dobrej asfaltovej ceste MR21. Infraštruktúra je vybudovaná najmä v okolí väčších miest ako Mbabane či Manzini.

Do Národného parku Malolotje dorazíme so západom slnka. Vysmiata recepčná nám podáva prospekty a tvrdí, že v Národnom parku majú veľa chránených zvierat, okrem iného aj zvláštneho vlka Proteles cristata, ktorého však ešte nikdy nikto nevidel. Vraj je možné, že vôbec neexistuje.

V kempingu nie je elektrika a teplej vody je dostatok najmä v skorých ranných hodinách, keď zamestnanci poriadne prikúria do veľkého kotla. Po zelených pasienkoch sa pasú endemické antilopy nazývané Blesbok a deň sa začína miešať s nocou ako rezané pivo. Obloha je prederavená žiarivými hviezdami zoskupených do úplne iných formácií ako na severnej pologuli. Jedinými susedmi je skupinka zdvorilých juhoafrických skautov a skautiek, ktorí akurát usilovne zbierajú drevo na teplú sprchu. Naokolo poletujú veľké chrobáky podobné našim chrústom a ja odrazu cítim náhlu potrebu zostať tu ešte niekoľko dní/týždňov. 

 

*************************************************************************************