December

The camp at Mlilwane hosts much wildlife overnight as animals have learnt it’s a safe haven during the hours of darkness. I went to breakfast early and a pregnant bushbuck and her calf were pootling around in the brush. Another had her forefeet in a pile of ash and I wondered whether she liked the latent heat. Bushbuck are usually extremely shy and skittish so it was a rare treat to see them up close. Likewise for the impala as I later drove out of the Reserve (see extras).

I said hello to some women speaking Portuguese in the restaurant and they were Mozambican. Lucia who works for UNICEF, does yoga and whose son’s godfather lives in Brighton, and Kate who works in environmental justice. We swapped numbers as they could be new friends in Maputo.

I had a lovely day pootling around Eswatini, for Eswatini is of a size that suits a pootle. I left Mlilwane Reserve late morning after an early stroll to the backpackers lodge (Sondzela, pictured) situated down the hill from the main camp. Apart from Johannesburg Airport this was where I effectively ‘touched down’ in Southern Africa for the first time. It was July 2004 and I hadn’t given any thought to the African winter. Africa can’t get cold! I regretted it instantly in a tent with no warm clothing and in highland temperatures close to zero at night. Sondzela is where we later brought groups that I was leading. Here I’ve been terrorised by many an ostrich, wrapped many a potato in foil to cook in the embers and comforted many a volunteer after their malaria prophylaxis made them vomit. The lady I wanted to track down, Ncamsi, still works here but wasn’t on duty. I’ve never met anyone so capable of giving withering looks. I used to receive several a day when asking about anything: using their cupboard for our camping stoves, toasting bread, making accommodation bookings, checking in, checking out. Another stalwart, Gertrude, was there and was miffed I’d stayed at the main camp and not the backpackers.

I then drove to meet this wonderful man, December. I last saw him in 2009 in Shewula, where he is from and where he used to help the volunteer trips go smoothly by talking to the builders, village elders and everyone in between. Since then he’s got a good job in the tourist industry and stays away from family here in the Ezulwini Valley. He is exactly the same except for grey wisps in his beard, and three additional children. We went for lunch and here he is enjoying his Appletiser. December gave my phone number to one of his colleagues who’d I chatted to when I collected him at his office. Her WhatsApp image is of her busty cleavage and nothing else. She wants me to take her on a date and I’m trotting out some excuses.

I raced to get the car back to Maputo before dark, which failed, but it didn’t matter. Seja bem vindo (be welcome) said the Mozambican policeman at the border, which was a sweeter exchange than the usual run-in with the police.