This is a “do nothing” day so I will return to a bit of travelogue … during Covid lockdowns, stay-at-home orders and the like, I often made Fb posts about “Travelling vicariously, Covid (day/month/now Year 3), and some of the photos I have taken over the years. For most of the years of travelling since retiring in 2007, I was living in the Maritimes and, like most Maritimers, I “worked away” – in my case, the commute was far farther than the many who worked in the oil patches of Alberta. I was so very, very fortunate. My current project is actually trying to organize the 100,000 or 200,000 photos I have in some manner. Wish me luck. A recent find was my pics of Swaziland.

One of the places I was fortunate to work in – I think 5 or 6 times – was Pretoria, South Africa. I may have had to work Mon-Fri but my weekends were my own and I made sure to get out and about and see all I could on the weekends! I started by booking through a travel agency but then they had difficulty drivers to get me to game lodges and started to get me to rent cars and drive myself. Given the lodges all had websites, I was soon making my own plans and renting a car to get where I would spend the weekend. Having driven on the wrong side of the road in India, that was not a problem in South Africa! The highways were good but speed limits rarely enforced and the traffic was everything from slow, old trucks, falling apart old cars, motorcycles and cars to big trucks with pup trailers – all going various speeds up to 160km/hr – caution advised.

One of the places that appealed was Swaziland (as it was then) now The Kingdom of Eswatini since 2018. Fortunately, my workday ended just after noon on a Friday, so I headed off for the weekend to Phophonyane Eco Lodge just north of Mbabane, Swaziland in a very small rented car. Luckily, there was a “dip line” at the border so I was able to avoid delay and easily got to the Lodge just before dusk and in time to put my order in for dinner. This was a bit non-plussing but made sense – order from the available menu so that little food gets wasted.

The entry gates to Phophonyane Eco Lodge

Rather than stay at the main lodge, I opted to stay in one of their tents – very much glamping!

The tent was the sleeping quarters and was attached to a bathroom unit. The tent was airconditioned, carpeted and had a lovely deck and the monkeys made their way through the trees overhead!

I spent most of Saturday hiking the local trails – one down to the edge of Phophonyane Falls.

I also had the pool to myself and took a swim with the beautiful view.

On my walk down to the falls, this goat kept me company.

There was also a spider who made a lovely web that I was able to capture well.

And a spider elsewhere that was about 3″ across – not sure if poisonous or not but he stayed still for a photo op.

There were also pretty flowers and terraced farming to be seen.

After another hike on Sunday morning, I headed back to South Africa and Pretoria and stopped near this roundavel where they were selling crafts – and bought 3 red straw angels for my Christmas tree that I still have and enjoy hanging every year.

And, of course, given my ticket in Dandriga the other day – there is a story of another manner of treating tourists – this time for South African tourists (my car had SA plates) heading home. Very shortly before the border, the excellent highway – with a speed limit of 100 kph – is suddenly posted, with no warning, 50 kph just before a roundabout. Never fear, the Swazi police were alert and waiting and I got pulled over for an on-the-spot fine. Since I only had 50 Rand visible in my wallet, they settled for 50 Rand!

An amazing weekend at a place that I will likely never get back to, much as I might want to.