Eswatini - a Royal Postcard - Eswatini

Eswatini - a royal postcard Of: Jacob Gowland Jørgensen

The journey goes to Eswatini

Swaziland is something as nice as an overlooked tourist country close to Africa's largest airport in Johannesburg, and South Africa almost also surrounds the country on all sides, so it's obvious to combine the two. The country has officially just changed its name to Eswatini, the land of the Swazis. It happened by royal decree in one of the last absolute monarchies in the world.

Most travelers are here only 1-2 days, because most come in their own or rented car and roll right through the bette kingdom, but there is clearly more to experience.

The Swazis are extremely peaceful, helpful and orderly, and there is nothing wrong with the attractions in the extremely traditional country.

We had a couple of really good days in the Mlilwane Reserve, where we hiked on without a guide hippo trail, and where you could also cycle and ride in the fine landscape. It got cool in the evening (it's high), so remember a real sweater, and sit by the fire with the wild boars. A huge traditional cabin with its own bathroom cost 400 kroner per. night, and then you also lived right in the middle of it all.

We then went to Sibebe Rock, the second largest single cliff in the world after Ayers Rock in Australia, and if you like hiking - and have control of your balance - it is a brilliant and beautiful trip. You should have a guide with you on the trip to Swaziland.

See Summer vacation: This is where the Danes go

We used Swazi Trails and were extremely satisfied. Sibebe has also given its name to the local excellent beer and is located just outside the main village of Mbabane.

Visiting Hlane National Park

Eventually we went to Hlane National Park - we just booked a taxi for quite a bit of money, and 100km of mainly newer motorway later we were in lion and rhino land close to the border with Mozambique. Remember to book before you arrive, because there are quite a few cabins.

It is a nice park with many bushes and trees, so you had to work a little to find and see the many animals. In return, we got on rhino walk, where we walked around with a guide to - and with - the rhinos; it was a slightly wild experience.

Everything was at pretty low prices, and even in the king safari countries of Tanzania and Uganda, I have not seen as many rhinos as in this more modest national park.

We wheeled by bus and taxi to Mozambique from there. It only took a couple of hours and then we were at the Indian Ocean. Nice.

Eswatini is highly recommended.

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About the author

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Jacob Jørgensen, editor

Jacob is a cheerful travel geek who has traveled in more than 100 countries from Rwanda and Romania to Samoa and Samsø.

Jacob is a member of De Berejstes Klub, where he has been a board member for five years, and he has extensive experience in the world of travel as a lecturer, magazine editor, adviser, writer and photographer. And, of course, most importantly: As a traveller. Jacob enjoys both traditional travel such as a car holiday to Norway, a cruise in the Caribbean and a city break in Vilnius, and more out-of-the-box trips such as a solo trip to the highlands of Ethiopia, a road trip to unknown national parks in Argentina and a friend trip to Iran.

Jacob is a country expert in Argentina, where he has been 10 times so far. He has spent almost a year in total traveling through the many diverse provinces, from the penguin land in the south to deserts, mountains and waterfalls in the north, and has also lived in Buenos Aires for a few months. In addition, he has special travel knowledge of such diverse places as East Africa, Malta and the countries around Argentina.

In addition to travelling, Jacob is an honorable badminton player, Malbec fan and always up for a board game. Jacob has also had a career in the communications industry for a number of years, most recently with the title of Communication Lead in one of Denmark's largest companies, and has also worked for several years with the Danish and international meeting industry as a consultant, e.g. for VisitDenmark and Meeting Professionals International (MPI). Today, Jacob is also a senior lecturer at CBS.