Folks,

I set off to Spashy Fen, a music festival, last Thursday, only to have my BMW R80 break a clutch pressure plate and other things in the gearbox.

After chatting with a motorcycle-owning indian bar-owner, he offered to take it in his Bakkie (pickup) to Durban, to the mechanic currently fixing his bike, which we duly did. I then hitch-hiked to Splashy Fen - even with the help of a sign it took too long to get a lift .. but the magic ride materialised, and I got there in time for the evening festivities.

Folks,

A few more impressions after being here a few days -

Even the rural areas seem relatively affluent compared to rural South Africa. Much, I am sure, because of the low population here.

Large British influence here - Barclays bank, many ex-pats, Universal English, little or no Africaanse.

The government is a mess. The King, who did not like the last constitution, and so summarily dissolved the government and put together a ’traditional’ system, that basically means he (and his mother) have complete power. There is a very slow process right now to design a new constitution - don’t hold your breath. Political parties are banned.

Folks,

Swaziland is landlocked country of a similar flavor to Lesotho, with small roads, a blanket speed limit of 80Km/hr, which is completely ignored. There are two big towns, Manzini and the capital Mbabane, both of which are much nicer than Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. The road between them is now being upgraded, but was listed in the Guiness book of records as the most accident-prone anywhere. It has the Royal residences, all the big hotels, the (tiny, but good) Mlilwane game reserve, and the Why Not disco and strip bar. The traffic .. well, allowable blood alchohol levels are twice anywhere else, and the road is two, sometimes three lane, and where else do you need to go in Swaziland ?