Life through my eyes: Restful weekend at Mlawula Game Reserve

The chalets

Last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Mlaula Game Reserve, situated in north-eastern Swaziland, towards its border with Mozambique. It was quite an experience to be far from the madding crowd of Manzini. The first thing that struck us was how well-spoken and groomed the security guard was. We had a feeling he was a casualty of the high unemployment rate in the country, or else he would not have been a security guard.

We stayed at the Magadzavane Lodge which comprises of grass-thatched chalets. It’s the greenest place I’ve ever been to. All the furnishings inside the rooms were made of wood – the headboard, stairs to children’s loft, table, chairs, blinds, roofing timber, and lamp shade. I was quite impressed by the simplicity. I was also glad they were insightful enough to place fire extinguishers around the place. My children were quite enchanted by the loft bedroom. We had our hands full trying to keep them, especially the 22 month-old off the ladder.

The loft bedroom for the kids

The lodge is surrounded by majestic mountain ranges that take your breath away and give you a breath of fresh air at the same time. It makes you realise the importance of conserving nature, because being away from the concrete jungle is an experience one should have if opportunity affords.

On the evening of our arrival, we took a walk but could not really follow the 45 minute walking trail as we had children, it was getting dark, and we were not sure if we would be safe all along. The walking trail is surrounded by virginal forest and if you are lucky, you will see wild animals darting around. Mlaula does not have the Big Five, so walking around is quite safe, if you can keep your eyes peeled for serpents which abound around the place. I have a serious aversion for snakes so I would never be caught dead prancing in their territory.

Mountains surrounding the lodge

The next day we were bright and early for our game viewing which started at 0600 AM. I can’t describe how I felt seeing animals in their natural habitat. It was among the most exhilarating experiences of my life and I found myself wishing my animal loving father in Zimbabwe were around. I had seen wild animals before, in chance encounters when I was passing by game reserves, or at the zoo. The zoo experience has nothing on the game reserve one. I could not help but feel sorry for zoo animals which are enclosed and do not know the joy of just running wild. Pictures are however quite difficult to take in the game reserve because the vegetation provided good camouflage for the animals and many of them were quite shy and quickly scurried for cover upon hearing the sound of the truck. What I enjoyed seeing most were the wildebeests running. I did not expect to them to be that fast for animals so big.

Male Impalas

There is a pool at the lodge, though not a very friendly one. It is much too deep for those who can’t swim, and at the time my son wanted to swim, it had broken glass in it. That aside, this is a place I would recommend for someone who would like to have a quiet getaway. Ours was unfortunately not so quiet, as there was a group having a party or something of that nature. People should, however, remember to carry their own toilet rolls and soap. The roll we found in our room was almost finished and the tablet of soap much too small for a family of four intending to bath in the evening and the next morning. If anyone of us had come down with diarrhea during the night, we would have found ourselves in a seriously sticky situation considering that there are no phones in the chalets to call housekeeping. As far as the soap went, I was lucky to be travelling with a family that hates bathing, so I ended up having the soap all to myself. See more pictures below.