Swaziland Cultural Day Trip

I had a very nice trip, enjoyed the meal and culture, my guide was fantastic and well informed , we went for a short drink to obey the thirst, was superb

We arranged online directly with Mabeco and they were flawless in all aspects of service and quality. Our guide, Simão, was excellent - warm, knowledgable and with a sense of humor. He was already waiting for us when we went to our arranged meeting place for an early morning departure. He assisted us at the border crossing and brought us to a Swazi cultural park, a fascinating candle fabricator, and markets. We were enthralled by the experience overall and highly recommend this tour!

+2

We booked this tour several months before on Viator. We felt confident prepaying it though it was pricy because of our trust in Viator. Our knowledgeable tour guide/driver Antonio of Mabeco Tours arrived at 0520AM & off we went on our private tour in his well maintained air conditioned Toyota Gran Via van. He provided us with a boxed breakfast and bottled water. He was also a comedian as it turned out with lots of stories for our 12h trip. He was at our side as we had our passports stamped at the border. We crossed the Lubombo mountains between Mozambique & Eswatini. We appreciated his being a safe driver as we drove along the "kingdom of speed bumps". We spotted local antelopes & giraffes by the Eswatini roadside. In the villages we were stopped by cattle & goats crossing the road. The roads transitioned from freeway to asphalted to dusty. We remained comfy inside the air conditioned van as we drove on. We stopped at the Swazi cultural village where we were joined by their local guide. Here, she took us all over the village as she explained their tribal traditions & cultural beliefs & the herbs commonly used by their herbal medicine man. We were free to take pictures as we went from hut to hut. We also watched the cultural dances. We were fascinated by the forehead kicking dance moves performed by both male & female dancers. There was chanting to the rhythmical drum beats and hand clapping by the dancers. They wore colorful costumes which reminded me of the reed dance performed in Eswatini for their royals. We walked to the waterfall and river some 0.8 km away from where we parked. It was worth it due to the scenery. Though it was in the 90's in Feb., the shade & breeze offered some respite. I also brought a cooling cloth & a shady hat, both of which helped me. Then, we drove a bit more to a restaurant called the House of Fire. They sold local crafts to tourists as well. We had chicken wraps with fries, thanks to Antonio's suggestion. The men had chilled beverages & I had hot tea and water. We then proceeded back to our Maputo hotel. Antonio dropped us off at around 7:30 PM. We enjoyed our 12h cultural tour. I highly recommend it if you like cultural stuff & travelling comfortably some 4 hrs each way. We like this tour because the operator delivered what they promised.

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