Mom and I got up early again this morning   Samson picked us up and we are going to visit the Kingdom of Swaziland.   A Kingdom?   The King has absolute power here.   Samson used to live in the Kingdom of Swaziland, so he is our perfect guide.   I am riding through the Kingdom of Swaziland.

Driving through the Kingdom of Swaziland

The country is pretty and everything is very clean.   The roads are good, also.   Our first stop is the craft center.

More markets

Oh no!   Mom, the suitcase is already full.   There is no room for more.   But it is OK.   She did not buy anything big.   She hardly bought anything at all.   We had to leave to see the cultural village.   Here we are.

Nature Reserve and Cultural Center

This is the Mantenga Nature Reserve and Swazi Cultural Village.   First we are entertained by dancers performing traditional Swazi dances.

Very talented Swazi dancers and singers

Toward the end of the performance they sing.   We really like these dancers and singers.   The performance has ended, so we visit the cultural village.   This is the home of the medical healer.

Medical healer lives here

Traditional medicine and herbs were used to heal most illnesses.   Here is the fire area.

Fire area

This is not the kitchen.   The fire area is for men.   The kitchen is for women.   Mom reacted to that, of course.   So did all the other female tourists.   But she liked this one.   This is a house of a grandmother.

Grandmother by her house

Grandma’s  house is probably the most important house in the village.   Women marry when they are about 18 and men marry when they are about 35.   The men need to work to have enough money to buy cows for the dowry of the bride.   So, husbands die first and the widow is considered the wisest now.   When there is an important function in the family, the grandmother even cooks and supervises the special food preparation.

Outdoor cooking area

This is another grandmother’s house and we went inside.

We are going inside this grandmother’s home

After entering, men stand on the right and women on the left.    The door is low for safety.   If an enemy tries to enter, he must bend low and his head enters first.   The men will simply club him on the head and the problem is usually solved.   In our society, when leaving a building, it is ladies first.   Here it is men first.   The same reason.   When leaving, you bend low and your head leaves the house first.   The men go out first to be sure that it is safe for the women.   After the cultural village, we went to Mantenga Falls and Picnic Site.

Beautiful waterfalls and river

We love these waterfalls.  It would be so nice to have a picnic here.   Many people enjoy the falls and picnic site.   There is a stove and wood for  your fire.   The picnic tables are big and in great locations.   Aren’t these stairs great?

Scenic stairs

They just look like waterfalls and beautiful scenery should be near.   Leaving the nature reserve and cultural village, we saw this aloe plant with pretty yellow flowers.

Aloe Vera plant in bloom

At home, in Colorado, we have aloe plants in the house, but we never have flowers.   The yellow is very cheerful.   Continuing on the road, we passed the mother cow with a calf.

Mom and baby

I love cows.   They seem to make everything peaceful.   Next time I will show you how we spent the afternoon in the Kingdom of Swaziland.   We like the Kingdom of Swaziland, and Samson is telling us so much about the country.   This is a great day.