Lush views of Swaziland AND the impact of the hailstorm on our rental car 
are captured in The Last Few Weeks in Swaziland . 

Our friend Carolyn's visit started in Swaziland on November 28.  The 3 of us traveled to
Victoria Falls in Zambia and Zimbabwe (we also took a river cruise and an elephant safari)
 and thoroughly enjoyed Cape Town and Winelands in South Africa.

Ever since a Vervet monkey sat on the window sill of our house in July, I’ve been hoping to see more of them near our house.  As we got out of our car at home
and walked toward our front door, on October 21st, the mulberry tree started shaking.  Out popped about 10 Vervet monkeys, one by one, stopping to look at us,
then scampering toward the forest on the other side of the fence.  I don’t know why these monkeys make me so happy, but they really do! 

Here is the cast of characters at our TechnoServe Office in Mbabane. Swaziland
who made our experience absolutely worthwhile.

Driving from (Mbabane to Blyde River Canyon, Barberton, Bulembu  and back again 0 October 2006
The names are not only alliterative, but each place is lovely and intriguing.

Maputo, Mozambique Sept. 15 - 18  is 100s of miles
& a world apart from Cape Town.

Cape Town, South Africa - Sept. 6 - 9, 2006  feels like a European City
with modern and old Cape Dutch style buildings adjacent to each other.

Walleighs attend in costume:  Swazi national reed dance -
sept. 4, 2006 and appear in the Swazi Times newspaper.

 Kruger park with Adrian - Sept. 2006

Rhinos, Elephants, and Giraffes, Oh My! at the private
Mkhaya Game Preserve an hour from us in Swaziland.

We had a whimsical, wonderful hippo-and-warthog day at
MLilwane Wildlife Sanctuary only 30 minutes from our house.

Strong gale force winds hit central Swaziland on the night of August 2, 2006.   The damage was
many fallen trees and power and water outages for several days in many places nearby. 
(R) A tree fell between our neighbor's house  and ours, and (Below L) Rick standing next to its very large tree roots!
(Below R) Rick is next to a tree on the road from our house to the highway.  No damage to our house,
thank goodness.  Just no electricity and water from 9:15 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. for a few days.

Rick and Wendy visit the Swazi National Cultural Village
 (R) in nearby Ezulwini ("valley of heaven" in Siswati). Follow the link to see
young traditional dancers and story tellers.

Follow the link to Kruger National Park
in South Africa to see more pictures like the lions (R)
from Wendy & Rick 's first weekend away
from Swaziland, July  2006
 

(Above) Rick in the back yard of our cottage in the
Emafini area off Malaguane Rd. on the outskirts of Mbabane, Swaziland.

(Above) This view from the backyard of our cottage
could be a canyon anywhere in California
but it's half a world away in Swaziland.