Gauteng, Swaziland, and Beyond! Day Twelve.

A quiet day. Once again at breakfast, I had a captive audience. Our Dutch friend is still here as are our friends from Lesotho. As there is no time like the present, I spoke about God’s powerful presence in my life and about the real relationship we have with Him. Seeds have been planted and we can only pray that they may germinate in God’s perfect time.

Louise and I headed off to Milwane, a national wildlife sanctuary close to the city. But today is the big day for the “Reed Dance” and we set off early to miss all the buses and taxis and cars filled with people flocking to see the young girls dance and perhaps catch a glimpse of the king and the queen mother. We were not in the mood for crowds so we chose a quiet game viewing drive instead. And we were so glad we did.

There are no predators in Milwane, so the animals are fairly tame. We saw a family of warthogs (my favourite animal!) as we drove in the gate.

From there on we saw every animal in the sanctuary save the hippos. Pity…but we did see everything else so we are not complaining. The drive itself is beautiful. The mountains around us, the forests, and plains, the large ponds, and the rivers all serve to make this relatively small preserve something rather special. The camp itself is lovely, clean, and neat, and animals roam freely around the huts, bungalows, campsites, offices, curio shop, and restaurant. Visitors can drive on their own, hike on several trails, bike, ride horses, or take a guided tour on jeeps. And none of it costs you an arm and a leg…

On our way back to Mbabane, we stopped to buy a few supplies for the birthday drive out back to South Africa tomorrow. We will be driving north first and then west to get to our three stops later in the week…

For now, we are in recovery mode…