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An alternative route to Mbabane
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While most visitors - and Transtate buses from South Africa - approach Mbabane from the Ngwenya/Oshoek border, a good
alternative route
is via the
Sandlane/Nerston
border post (8am-6pm), about 35km further south, and roughly 70km from the city. Although a longer journey, this road passes through some outstanding scenery and will take you past some excellent places to stay.
Once past Nerston, where there are some interesting San paintings (ask at the church for someone to show you the way), the road plunges deep into the vast and beautiful Usutu Forest , which covers over ten percent of Swaziland. After some steep climbs, you'll start a long descent to the factory town of Bhunya , whose hub is a belching pulp mill - reason enough not to linger. Press on for another 15km or so on the road to Mhlambanyatsi, taking care when crossing the single-lane bridge over the Usutu River. Just before Mhlambanyatsi is a fine hotel , The Forester's Arms (tel 4674377, ; half-board: R300-500), set in a picturesque clearing in the surrounding woodland. Cosy rooms with wonderful mountain views and hearty meals make this a good place to stop over; on Sundays, people from all over the country pour in to feast on the hotel's superb buffet and roast - you'll need to book ahead to be sure of a table.
Back on the road,
Mhlambanyatsi
itself has a small shopping centre and some filling stations, but little else. The road beyond it enters a beautiful, lush river valley dotted with traditional houses; this is prime
hiking
territory, and a particularly spectacular unmarked trail leads all the way to (but not into) the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary. Note that there are no facilities, and you have to be pretty self-sufficient, asking at villages for somewhere to stay. Eventually the road breaks through the hills to the plateau on which Mbabane stands, where you can connect with the main routes to the centre of the country. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Swaziland,
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