Our first stop was a combination pee-break/photo op/leg stretch. The scenery is so beautiful, but it was too hot to sit outside, seriously. I think it was 36C that morning, long before noon. I figured this was the perfect time to buy some Swaziland hot sauce.
This was a strange little place, it was like a mini-mall in the middle of nowhere. The shops weren’t market/bazaar/craft style, they were more of a high class and expensive type; lots of jewellery, clothing, household items like tablecloths and wall-hangings. Nothing was cheap. Yet right beside these stores was a shop where they manufactured jerseys for sports teams on ancient sewing machines.
Good-bye Swaziland aka eSwatini, land of contrasts. Some of the areas we drove through had incredibly beautiful golf courses and casinos and developed-world-style malls. Huge office buildings manned by Chinese and US companies are being built everywhere you look, yet over 60% of the people live far below the poverty line. The king has multiple wives and each of them live in their own massive home in a gated area, yet the death rate from HIV/AIDS is getting higher every year partially due to polygamy. (it’s expected to go as low as 37 yrs old for men within the next 15 years at the rate it’s plummeting to right now). A country both magical and terrifying.
No comments:
Post a Comment