Day 3-068
Day Totals: 16 hrs, 11 .6 kms

I thought here in Swaziland I'd just start doing a big hike across the country. But oddly enough I actually feel like continuing to do the tourist thing for a change. After switching to another hostel and running some errands, I decide to check out a "cultural village" nearby built to look like a traditional Swazi community, complete with a Swazi dance show. I usually skip this kind of stuff... but it's only a couple of bucks--and I would like to see a the Swazi traditional dance--even if it's going to be a "just for tourists" thing.

So I follow a quiet road up a valley on the other side of the mountain that I climbed yesterday. Past a cheery troop of monkeys... along a beautiful stream with a sign "beware of crocodile"...

OK... if it's just one crocodile, then it should be OK to swim in, right?

Finally I reach the village with consist of an area surrounded by tall, vertical stick fence and various beehive shaped huts made of sticks covered with grass . One nice thing about this being a "tourist attraction" is that I can wander around freely and take pictures without feeling I'm imposing on people's privacy...

Before the dance show, I continue on down the road a bit to a waterfall. Turns out to be a bit disappointing, as you can't get very close it... it's a bit further up a small gorge, and a sign clearly says "no swimming"

Oh well... at least I saw a waterfall on my Southern Africa trip...

Back to the dance show, the small arena is filling up--and not just with white tourists. I get to chatting with a South African tourist next to me. She is Zulu, so she can understand a bit of Swazi and translates some of the songs for me.

The show starts with the ladies in front doing a slow dance and singing carrying small shields with the men wearing animal skin skirts beating drums, shouting and whistling . They do a good job at trying to give it an authentic feel.

Next a man does a dance which looks like he's going on a hunt... followed by a medicine woman doing a dance in which she goes into a trance.

The highlight though is when the unmarried girls come forward to do the famous Swazi dance done during the reed festival. This is the festival when the king has a chance to choose a new bride, and the girls all come forward and do high kicks. Quite beautiful and graceful... if it weren't for the explanation we are givien. "These high kicks are to show that they are still virgins"

That just feels kind of vulgar and demeaning, in my opinion. We are told that, during the Reed Festival, all the unmarried girls come and do this in front of the king, who then can choose a new bride (at the museum though I read that at this time the king has already chosen his new bride). During this festival, the girls do this dance topless, whereas now they do it wearing a wraparound (although there are a couple of wardrobe malfunctions)

Here is where I begin to contemplate on the eternal struggle between "traditional culture" and "westernization" . I've long bemoaned how Europe, America and the Middle East have imposed their culture, religion and values on societies around the world, effectively destroying thousands of cultures and traditions all around the globe. Well, here in Swaziland I have the chance to see a country that has fought back: deliberately putting Swazi cultural norms in its laws and constitution.

That's wonderful! Right?

Well... it's not that simple. The previous king had about 70 wives and 210 children. Which makes me wonder, is the king really choosing a wife, or just a temporary sex toy? Oh, and if he chooses a girl, she can't say no. And not everybody is happy with that setup. After a recent "selection", the family of the girl complained that she was forced into this "relationship".

And, in a country this small, I can imagine that supporting a "family" with hundreds of children must put a tremendous strain on the national budget .

... And, there's the trickle down effect. With the king setting this kind of example, this "older man-younger mistress" relationship is very common here in Swaziland, I'm told, leading to the spread of AIDS, and a lot of kids growing up without a father figure or provider.

Seeing a national ruler who goes to international events dressed in a lionskin skirt and a feathered headdress looks pretty cool... but there's a dark side to this as well.

We continue on to a guided tour of the "cultural village" Our guide gives us quite a fascinating and humourous tour... I'm hesitant to put down some of the things that he said about Swazi culture, as I know guides can make things up sometimes to get chuckles and gasps from their audience... I've had a hard time finding information that authenticates what he told us.

Here's some of the information... don't take it as gospel, though .

"The most important and sacred place in the Swazi home is the cattle pen. This is where we believe the spirits of our ancesters lived. Cattle are essential in all stages of Swazi life and survival. Birth... initiation... marriage... even death it's all centered around cattle. When a boy becomes a man, his initiation is right here in the cattle pen."

We go on to a "men only" area, where men could gather and eat certain parts of the cow that were reserved for men only. We are regular reminded that the man ruled in the Swazi household. Even when a man chose a new wife, his current wife would be required to come a prepare the room and meal for the new wife... and has no veto power in his choice.

However, as we enter the largest hut, the man's mother's hut, we get another perspective: "this was the place where conflicts were resolved: if there were any disputes in the family they would come to the mother and her world was final . Also if the father was beating his son, and he ran into this hut, he would be safe here and couldn't be touched"

The mother also had an unusual role, so we're told: if Son A was sterile and couldn't father children, she would arrange for Son B to get discreetly get Son A's wife pregnant! (they had a way of "testing" if a man is sterile by peeing in a pot and seeing if anything grew)

Considering how important fathering children was in Swazi culture, this actually is a pretty clever solution. Much better than the Middle Eastern solution to always just blame the woman for a man's sterility...

The dowry system also has a logic to it. It's sort of a "retirement plan": when your older you trade off your daughters for cattle, thus insuring your economic security (unless you're a horny old man, constantly buying new wives!)

The guide also explains how the Swazi royal lineage works . With so many sons, you would think there'd be a chaotic struggle for power when the king dies. But unlike other kingdoms where the oldest son is the heir to the throne, here it's the youngest sons who has no siblings from his mother. The present king technically became king when he was only 4th months old! Obviously he had a bit of "help" until he was old enough to rule on his own.

I listen which both fascination and concern. One big question I have is, with so many men seeking multiple wives... what happens when you run out of women? In the old days, this was solved by men fighting and killing each other until the ratio evened out... What about nowadays?

In modern Swaziland, it's obviously impossible for most people to follow the traditional model of Swazi family life. Customs are changing, and not necessarily for the better. Now, rather than paying 12 cows for a wife, a man will just give a "gift" for a temporary girlfriend. .. and she will in turn recieve "gifts" from other boyfriends. Not a very good model for a stable, healthy society...

Finally the tour is over. I follow the trail back, pondering the dilemma: should the rest of the world care about what goes on in Swaziland? Get involved or just let them do their thing? People should have control over their own country and destiny. But what about when you have a country where some people want to stick to the old ways and some people want to embrace things like democracy, equality for women, Western family laws etc... ?

The world is so interconnected that no country can be truly isolated. Either other countries support the status quo in Swaziland through open trade, aid etc, or enact policies that will pressure it to change...

It's not an easy question to answer...

Back at the hostel, I make a connection with the other corner of Africa. I hear a familiar accent of a fellow gathered around the fire... of someone from Morocco speaking English... Could it be?

Pretty close... he's a Berber from Algeria, who opened a juice bar right across the street! Juice bars are stereotypically Berber businesses in Morocco, and I'm sure my friends there will get a kick out of knowing there's a Berber run juice bar in Swaziland!