Swaziland

We left our hotel early in the morning in Swaziland to travel back to South Africa. Much of the terrain in Swaziland looked very much like that of Southern California even though they are in different hemispheres and at different latitudes. Actually, as someone who lives in Southern California, it was something which I did not expect.

Ngwenya Glass Factory

We made a stop in Swaziland at the Ngwenya Glass Factory, which was founded in 1987. It uses recycled glass that is collected by the children of Swaziland for its products. It produces mainly glass animals and household glass. You had to be very careful in the store. If you picked up a glass object, such as one of these animals, you had to make sure that you didn’t knock any of the other animals down. I had a close call.

Ngwenya Glass Factory

The Ngwenya Glass Factory also makes household items such as these unusually shaped wine glasses. Here, you can see how the glass is being made. I didn’t watch it as I had expected it to be just one worker blowing glass and shaping it into an animal or such. But when I looked later at the factory’s website, I realized I was wrong and that what I would be looking at was a large glass–making factory with many workers. You can see the blowing room of the factory at https://ngwenyaglass.co.sz/factory–tour.

Of interest, the factory’s furnaces run on KFC cooking oil from all over Swaziland (KFC is very big in Swaziland), old engine oil, and paraffin.

Swaziland

Back on the road.

Swaziland Dress

There is no one way that Black African women dress. Some wear Western attire with an African accent and some dress more traditionally. They are colorful and a pleasure to look at. Black African men usually dress in Western clothes, sometimes with an African flavor.

Matsamo Cultural Village

We crossed the border from Swaziland to South Africa and visited the Matsamo Cultural Village right at the border. Photo of a traditional Swazi tribal village at the cultural center. We were given a tour of some of the huts. Each hut has a specific purpose: grandmother hut, first wife hut (the Swazi tribe is polygamous), huts for children, hut for the master of the homestead, hut for cooking, etc.

This is the first time that I heard that polygamy was still practiced in Swaziland. I didn’t know then about the Swazi king and the number of his wives (15), so I was really surprised by this. Women who do not have children are looked down upon in Swazi tribal culture and they feel that to become one of a man’s wives will ensure that they do. There also seems to be a pecking order between first wife and second wife. We were told that a man can have as many wives as he can support.

Matsamo Cultural Village Show-1–MOVIE

We were treated to a show of dancers and singers. Here is the first movie of three.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/WCcF8xq02L4

Matsamo Cultural Village Show-2–MOVIE

The second movie. Women dancers.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/sob9jsWHF6k

Matsamo Cultural Village Show-3–MOVIE

The third movie. The chorus.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/MXVSDIW8ORY

South Africa

Back on the road. We arrived soon at our hotel in Hazyview, South Africa.

I have put my photos of our day in Swaziland and South Africa on a slideshow. Go to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/swaziland–matsamo–cultural–village/

(Slide Shows, Southern Africa, Swaziland/South Africa, “Swaziland; Matsamo Cultural Village, South Africa”).