Travel Tuesdays...Swaziland!

For our first anniversary Riaan and I decided to get our passports stamped together for the first time...I can't believe it took us 8 years but hey, we finally did it!

Since we got married on a public holiday we were lucky to have a nice long weekend for our first wedding anniversary.

We set off on Saturday morning nice and early on our 400km road trip, once we were through the border we found our way (after quite a few wrong turns) to Swazi Candles, it's a local candle factory and mini flea market. All of the candles and pretty much everything else that is sold here is hand made, it is awesome!
We strolled through the candle store and watched one of the candle makers make Rhinoceros candles, these guys are so talented, its insane!

After the candle factory we made our way to the Swaziland Botanical Gardens, the gardens are beautiful and lush, and are home to a very unique dining experience.
There is a restaurant set on the edge of the water with wooden walkways snaking over the water to private little landings where you can enjoy an intimate meal or a few sundowners if you prefer.

After our refreshments we decided to make our way to the Wide Horizons Retreat - Our home for the weekend. Rose (the owner) advised that we try to arrive before sunset as we would be travelling a dirt road.
We stopped off at a supermarket to get some groceries for the weekend and off we went.
Little did we know that our Honda Jazz was about to become a miniature 4x4. We traversed the slopes of the mountain (pictured above) and eventually after what felt like an eternity and a few heart failures, we arrived at our destination, thanks to Riaan and his mad driving skills!!

We spent our weekend relaxing and exploring, we went on a few hikes up the mountain and enjoyed the fresh air! We stayed in the luxury tent, which was wonderful. It is extremely secluded and has an outdoor shower and a semi-outdoor bath. On the first evening we forgot to tie down the tent flaps, and since the tent was so secluded (and we were in the middle of Africa) and the wind was extremely rough I spent the night worrying that we might die! Hahaha such a drama queen! We were literally living on top of a mountain above a small village, everyone knows everyone there, so I actually had nothing to worry about!! Needless to say, I slept much better on the second night.

A random little hut on our campsite

Pathway leading up to the tent

Sunset over the mountain

Before heading home on the Monday we made a stop at the Ngwenya glass factory, here they handmake pretty much anything out of glass. We bought awesome whiskey glasses that will work perfectly on our yacht one day, as well as some pretty seashell paperweights, unfortunately cameras are not allowed in the factory so no pictures of that.