After our visit to the market, we drove through more of Swaziland passing Zulu villages. At one stop we saw several people carrying things on their heads. Our hotel was at Pigg's Peak. In the lobby we found a round opening, and when we looked into it there was a huge chess set on the floor below us. The gift shop was pretty fantastic, too. For the first time we saw tee shirts that were less than $30, but they didn't have any XL sizes. The clerk there posed next to the giraffe tee shirt that I wanted so I could take home a picture of it at least. She told me about the dance they have once a year so that the king can choose new wives. Polygamy, you see, is legal. King Mswati III still wears leopard robes as his official costume when he presides at an official dance when the unmarried girls in the kingdom dance topless before him giving the king the opportunity to select a few new women. Actually, what he does is select fiancees and they then move into the palace. They become his wives when they are pregnant. Polygamy is legal in Swaziland, and I wondered if being the king's wife would be something the local women aspired to, but the young women with whom I spoke told me that they would never want to be one of the king's wives because they are more like slaves in that they cannot leave the palace where they live. He then chooses which women he wants to add to his household. When I asked the gal if she would ever do it, she said that although the wives lived in luxury, they were treated like slaves because once they were married, they never could leave the palace. She said that she loved her freedom too much to lose it. I found a photo of the king in a newspaper and I included it here.
The next day we drove back into South Africa where Allenby showed us how big one of the trees was. I got a kick out of the state-of-the-art, cutting edge facilities they have at the border. Three men lifted it by hand so we could pass through.
Click a picture to see a larger view.
People With Things on Their Heads
Zulu Buildings Along the Way
Scenery from the Bus
At the Hotel
Hotel Lobby
Dining Room
Looking Down to the First FLoor
Our Hotel Room
In the Gift Shop
King of Swaziland
Crossing Back into South Africa
Allenby Showing the Tree
