Due to the opportunity of having our expedition in Eswatini, we were fortunate enough to experience a huge variety of new landscapes and wildlife such as lions, white rhino, giraffes, elephants, zebra and a close encounter with a black rhino. For some of us simply travelling without parents was a daunting enough step out of our comfort zone. For others it was cooking for large groups of people, learning to enjoy our experience without electronics and taking on responsibilities like team leader that put us to the test.
Leaning about Wildlife
On our first two days we spent some time getting to know the different type of antelope and learning to differentiate between male and female animals from their features e.g. horns, markings. Some people, in preparation of our later conservation project wanted to delve deeper into animal recognition and classification. We created our own group: Safari Squad, who became experts in many different types of local wildlife.
Overnight Trek
There were other challenging things such as our overnight trek lead by our incredibly knowledgeable and kind guides. We spent 6 hours walking through the bush, learning how to track different wildlife and appreciate the natural scenery. We spotted a variety of impala, some very close up white rhino, and a pair of incredibly inquisitive giraffe before spending the night camping out under the stars at Sudwini.
We were lucky enough to have a night off from our own somewhat questionable cooking and were instead treated to some delicious local cuisine cooked by the guides consisting of polenta pap, onion relish, chicken and salad, all cooked over the fire. This helped fuel us for another morning of walking where our trek was somewhat extended by the signs that we were getting near a black rhino, and so had to slightly divert our route.
Safari at Hlane
We were all left in awe by our sunset safari in Hlane, we were able to see two sleepy lion brothers as well as a herd of large elephants incredibly up close. As if that was not enough our safari was also accompanied by the sky filled with a stunning ombre of warm colours that left us speechless. We used our knowledge that we previously learnt on our orientation in Mlilwane to look and distinguish the animals by the footprints along the ground in order to track and find the animals. Which was successful in leading us to the two male lion.
Living in the Moment
In our first week of travelling around Eswatini we have met multiple generous locals who despite having very little, find joy within by simply being and meeting new people. This experience taught us to live in the moment and to be happy with the small things in life.
Our expedition has also taught many of us that our phones and social media are luxuries but also that we have become too accustomed to having access to social media and at our fingertips. We have also learnt that taking time away from our phones and appreciating time in outdoors can make time go faster than any movie or tv show.
We look forward to learning more on our expedition!!
Emilia & Anna
