Eswatini

Wild Country in a Small Package

Despite covering just 17,364 square kilometres, Eswatini packs in impressive wildlife. Hlane Royal National Park shelters lions, elephants and white rhinos, while Mkhaya Game Reserve is one of southern Africa's finest sanctuaries for black rhinos. Milwane Wildlife Sanctuary, closest to the Ezulwini Valley, offers walking and cycling trails beside zebra and warthog. The country's compact size means you can move between habitats in a single day.

The Ezulwini Valley and Swazi Craft

The Ezulwini Valley, known as the Valley of Heaven, stretches south from Mbabane and holds the country's cultural heartland. Craft studios line the road through Malkerns, where you can watch Swazi candles being poured in intricate multicolour layers and browse hand-woven Tishweshwe fabrics. Swazi Candles and the Rosecraft weaving studio have become regional destinations in their own right, drawing visitors who want to take home something genuinely made in the kingdom.

Highlands, Gorges and Forest Trails

The Malolotja Nature Reserve in the northwestern highlands protects one of Africa's oldest geological formations and a rolling expanse of highveld grassland cut by dramatic ravines. Hiking trails lead past waterfalls and ancient fig forests to viewpoints over the Usutu River gorge below. Birdwatchers come for the southern bald ibis and other rare highveld species, while the Canopy Tour at Malolotja strings ziplines through indigenous forest for a different kind of altitude.