The Mantenga Nature Reserve in Swaziland’s Ezulwini Valley, I thought was going to be a lot more captivating than it was. I deliberately avoided the cultural village, as I’m not into villages built for tourists. Instead I did a round trip to Mantenga Falls to have a look at the waterfall and get a glimpse of the rest of the reserve, maybe even spot some wildlife. The falls were a lot smaller than I expected, with a nice picnic spot next to it. The landscape in general not particularly impressive. But the Execution Rock a “fun” feature. Only evidence of wildlife was a sign saying: Beware of the crocodile. Finding it very unlikely and odd, I had to ask my driver if there were crocodiles in the, very shallow, river?? Up in the mountains?? He laughed, and said he had never seen one. Great way of keeping people away from the river 🙂 FYI, with me not entering the cultural village, I paid a reduced entrance fee to the reserve.
When doing my Swaziland research I didn’t find a tour I would like to join, so I asked the hotel to hire me a taxi, which could take me to the places I wanted to go. With things going very quickly, it saved me time and money.
Website: entc.org.sz/mantenga/
We’ve hired a taxi to drive us around before and it worked out great! Maybe there aren’t crocodiles and maybe there are? I guess I’d feel “better safe than sorry!” #farawayfiles
Ha ha, true! First time I’ve hired a taxi, and will definitely consider it again, where possible costs wise.
Hiring a taxi to take you to the best sights sounds like an excellent idea, Bea. I’ll remember that one. Thanks for sharing on #FarawayFiles
I’ve slowly, but surely, realised that this is a good option, in countries where the costs open up for that.
That croc warning sign is indeed funny but probably works to keep folks away. I knew nothing before about this location, it is interesting. #FarawayFiles
Yes, I assume it does, until you start thinking more about it 😀