Swaziland

I am hoping to get all caught up on September countries today while Asa is in the office. I'm four countries behind, bringing our September total to 11, which I guess is pretty good, since 9 of those were in the last two weeks. 

We're headed back to Africa for our 30th country on that continent. (In case you are keeping track, there are 53 of them- so we still have 23 to go.) Swaziland is a tiny little country, at 6,704 square miles, located at the crossroads of South Africa and Mozambique.  

Swaziland is Africa's last remaining absolute monarchy, the official title of the government of the country is a "unitary parliamentary absolute diarchy,' in case you were interested. The King there is King Mswati III. Now, as you might expect in an absolute monarchy, and from a guy who was crowned king at the age of 18 years and 6 days, he isn't exactly...... responsible? He was the youngest ruling monarch in the world when he was crowned, and he has the absolute power to choose the prime minister, as well as other top government posts and traditional posts. He may also dissolve parties, and veto any legislation parliament passes. 

King Mswati is currently 49 years old, so he's been around for the last thirty years or so, and he's not exactly awesome. At some point or another he's tried to sterilize and brand people with HIV, and declared Democracy would be 'bad for his people'.  His regime has been accused of torture, excess force, and blatant discrimination. They harass journalists. They restrict free speech. 

Oh, and he's been accused of kidnapping girls he wants to marry. He has somewhere around 14 wives, and 32 kids, though nobody really knows for sure. Apparently, it's common for the king to pick a new wife each year. And I mean, his first two wives are chosen for him by the national councilors. He just picked  his latest wife a few days ago, a 19 year old.

Mswati has been divorced a couple of times, which is interesting, since in April he completed a decree telling the people of Swaziland they could no longer get divorced.   

But, Mswati is full of hypocrisy, and secrecy. 

Our landmark is the Lozitha Palace, King Mswati's very lavish residence. 

It's important to note that 63% of Swazi's live on less than $1.25 a day. In the 2014 National Budget (which is the last known record of Mswati's spending), parliament allocated $61 million for the King's annual budget. 

Following criticism for his purchase of a half million dollar luxury automobile, he banned photography of his vehicles. Finding a picture of the Lozitha Palace? Forget it. The place is impossible to find any information on. We know it's huge, because the only way to see a picture of it is on google maps. 

Despite their ruler's lavish lifestyle, Swaziland hasn't exactly moved forward in the modern world. Swaziland really embraces it's traditional lifestyle. The capital city of Mbabane has a bit of a western feel, with  malls and guys wearing jeans and carrying briefcases. But, you're also just as likely to see a guy dressed in traditional robes carrying spears. 

Mbabane is also known for it's markets, full of traditional arts and crafts. Unique to Swaizland, you can find baskets in vibrant colors, wood and stone carvings, glassware and jewelry at the Swazi craft markets. 

Outside of the capital city, you'll find spirit doctors- or sangomas who will bring balance between the living and the dead, protect warriors, perform ritual sacrifices and heal the sick all with powers of the ancient spirits. 

Swaziland has small, but pretty amazing collection of parks and reserves. There you'll find elephants, hippos, eland, wildebeest, giraffe, buffalo and zebra. It was also home to the critically endangered black rhinos. Much like their Northern White Rhino friends, they are on the verge of extinction. The species of three sub-classes had survived for more than 50 million years. One of those sub-classes, the western black rhino was declared extinct in 2011, when nobody had sighted one for over a decade.  

Swazi's also hold many traditional ceremonies. To us they may seem a little strange, but they are ceremonies that have lasted for 100 of years, and in some cases Swaziland is the last African country that still practice them today. Depending on what book and article you read, you might get a very different picture of these ceremonies painted for you. Like much of Swaziland, even the ceremonies are secretive and shrouded in mystery. 

The reed dance ceremony is an 8 day long event. This is where King Mswati just picked his new wife. The country's young, unmarried and childless women get together to dance, feast, and... fix the queens fence. 

The, there's the Incwala Ceremony, the most important ceremony of them all. Its six days in which the Swazi people celebrate the renewal of a new season, and praise the king with rituals, dancing, feasting, and traditional robes. And during the preparations guys bring back a branch, and if it's wilted, it's a sign they've have illicit sex. (I may have left that part out when Hayden was in the room). 

Basically, this country is quite the mystery, from the king to its ceremonies. Also, it's flag was not easy to draw. That thing in the middle is a traditional cow hide shield, and I don't think I did a terrible job drawing it. 

The boys made their Swaziland postcards. 

Calib made some girls fixing up the fence, and the giant Lozitha Palace.

Peyton put a spirit doctor and a black rhino in his. 

And Hayden's was a two-sider he made to look like a parade, in a nod to all the ceremonies, with King Mswati's luxury car pulling a black rhino, and a witch doctor among other things. 

Swaziland for us had to be a lunch meal, since Asa was headed into the office that day. If you are looking for a dinner though, may I recommend going with 'Chicken Dust', it's a cheap local barbecue meal of chicken grilled in the open served with a salad and mealie. 

But for us we went the brunch route with South African Pancakes. I know it's not Swazi specific, but some countries are really hard to find, especially when you're looking for lunch and not chicken and rice for the 30th time. We also made some scrambled eggs to go along with it, which might also seem like a stretch, but Swaziland has recently built two poultry houses in conjunction with 'Project Canaan' to help Swazi's become self-sufficient with agriculture. With 5,000 laying hens, it provides and 1,5 million eggs. Swaziland has been dealing with droughts, so the poultry houses, which are designed specifically for hot climates, is really helping. 

Speaking of drought, it makes growing fruit and vegetables really difficult, so most of it has to be imported from South Africa. So I made a fruit salad with some fruits that are currently in season in South Africa, like strawberries, bananas, melon, apples, and pears. Peyton really enjoyed it, and I told him he better. If he was in Swaziland, he'd be enjoying that fruit at an 80% markup. It's not cheap to get imported fruit in Swaziland. 

All in all our Swaziland breakfast earned five spoons up. While not terribly unique, everyone at everything on their plates plus more. Those little African Pancakes were really yummy, and the boys were pleased to check another African country off our list without eating more of the same chicken and pap/rice/mealie. I call that a win. 

Swaziland got colored in a nice red color. 

Next Up: Kuwait