Eswatini

A Tiny Little Kingdom Nation That Nobody Knows

AUTHOR:  Izzudin

I bet not many of you have ever heard about this country of Eswatini or also known as Swaziland. It’s completely different from Switzerland and it is located in the southern continent of Africa. But! I must tell you that this country is actually as beautiful as Switzerland in its own way. In July 2023, I went for a trip to South Africa for 12 days independently without any tour package from Malaysia with another 2 friends and we have decided to include Eswatini in our itinerary. Wait! Why Eswatini? TBH we don’t have a specific answer for that but we all are aware that traveling is about learning and experiencing, so why not give Eswatini a try since it’s just a few hours away from the big city of Johannesburg (or Joburg).

For this Africa trip, our main goals were to see the beautiful nature in Cape Town, to learn history and at the same time go for a safari game drive in Joburg. And what about Eswatini? We had absolutely zero expectations on what to do and see in this country. But trust me, we had so much fun over there and a part of me actually felt sad that I had to leave that country after 3 days of visiting. From Joburg, we took a shuttle service to the capital of Eswatini, Mbabane. The cost is around R1400 per pax for a return trip back to South Africa. We took it from this trusted company called TransMagnific. The journey took us around 4 and half hours including immigration and for Malaysians, it is a visa-free country! Means that we don’t need to apply for a visa to enter this beautiful country. Eswatini currency is Lilangeni, however, South African Rand is widely accepted. But take note that Lilangeni is useless in South Africa. So before going back to South Africa, we cleared and changed our money to Rand (and we also kept some of it as a memory).

The shuttle has multiple stop points and we chose the closest town to our hostel which was Malkerns. Went for a quick lunch and then we found a taxi driver nearby a shopping mall to send us to our hostel that was located inside the animal sanctuary of Mlilwane. The taxi driver, France was his name, was being so nice with us (also gave us a very cheap rate after we compared with other taxi drivers), we decided to hire him as our “driver” during our stay in Eswatini.

Quick information about this country, there are two main safaris that tourists usually visit, Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary and Hlane National Park. Hlane is much bigger and has many wild mammals while Mlilwane is more like a sanctuary for “prey” animals. Also, Hlane is a bit further to the Mozambique border hence we chose Mlilwane since it’s closer to the capital.

As soon as we arrived in our hostel inside Mlilwane, Sondzela Backpackers, we went for a sunset game drive. We saw zebras, wildebeest, antelope, warthog and so many other animals. And the best part was, we had a beautiful scenic view at the highest point of Mlilwane during sunset. Price is R455 per person.

While at night, the weather was so cold, the temperature could go as low as 2 degrees. Since Eswatini is located in the southern hemisphere, the winter is actually during mid-year just like NZ and Australia. Luckily we did proper research and brought along winter jackets with us. The best part of our hostel, there was a fireplace to keep us warm.

The next day, we called our driver, France to bring us to some places in this country. The first place was Mantenga Cultural Village, imagine Sarawak Cultural Village but it’s for African especially Swazi people and it was 15 mins drive from the hostel. It was fun over there, we got to see the local customs and culture of Swazi people and they had some performances of all dancing and singing which were amazing! Something that I have never seen before.

The second stop was Ezulwini Craft Market, as suggested by France, for us to shop for some handicraft souvenirs as we wanted to buy “few” things. Tips! craft markets in South Africa and Eswatini are actually selling the same things, but the price is so much more expensive in South Africa. It turned out that we bought some fridge magnets, wooden plates, Swazi fabric and lots of other things because those were so cheap!

After we had lunch, fast food chains like KFC and Nandos are halal certified, we went back to Mlilwane for an impromptu activity and it was also the “highlight” of our Eswatini trip, riding a horse. The price is R390 per pax for an hour and it was the best decision that we have ever made. It was my first time riding a horse without any guidance and it was a great ride, we enjoyed the view of the whole Mlilwane area, just imagine you were on a horse and a group of zebras walked past by in front of you, the experience was priceless!

The third and final day, the saddest day of our trip in Eswatini, we had to leave this country to continue our journey. Before we were leaving, France brought us around Mbabane. The capital of the country itself is very chill, laid back and nothing much to see. Just imagine it’s like a small town in Malaysia. With a very heavy heart, we went back to South Africa.

Despite bad WiFi and mobile network signal experience, 3 days is definitely not enough for me. Would I recommend Malaysians to visit this country? Absolutely YES! Just remember to do proper research before traveling to this continent if you’re planning to travel independently. Yes, safety in South Africa is a big concern, but I can say I felt so safe in Eswatini. Also, as a backpacker like me, I would enjoy a place that doesn’t have many tourists.

Expenses (per pax):

Return Trip Shuttle Service	R1400
Sunset game Drive	R455
Horse Riding	R390

*    1 MYR = 3.88169 ZAR

      1 ZAR = 0.257618 MYR 

* Can use XE Currency Converter ( https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/  ) to calculate currency conversion in more detail

I share more tips and information regarding my trips on my Instagram and tiktok, @izzudinpauzi, videos and more pictures of my South Africa trip and other places are there too!

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