Day 3-069
Day totals: 16 hrs, 32 kms

Today I'm going to do the one thing most people think of when you talk about visiting Africa: a safari .

I've never been too excited about the safari concept. The idea that riding across the open savannah taking pictures of a kingdom ruled by lions is experiencing "real" Africa, is simply dishonest. The fact is, Africa is ruled by humans, just as every continent is. And the main reason there are so many large wild animals is... to provide entertainment for rich, white tourists.

Look at it this way: I live in Eastern USA. Imagine if we still had grizzly bears, mountain lions and wolves which were protected... because foreign tourists love to come and take pictures of them. Even if they killed hundreds of people every year and thousands of heads of cattle, we weren't allowed to kill them, because of... well... tourists...

Would that be fair?

I'm not advocating for the mass destruction of African wildlife, by any means. I just think it's important to remember that these mass reserves and protected lands are set up without concern for the needs of the original people who live on this land .

OK... the real reason I haven't gone on a safari is it's too expensive to go on a tour, and I don't want to rent a car.

But Mlilwane Reserve is actually walking distance away, and since it doesn't have large predators, you can walk around it freely. So I'm going to do a "budget" safari today.

It's a couple mile walk to the entrance, past more typical Swazi countryside, of simple scattered cinderblock homes. None of the beehive huts I saw yesterday. Inside the park, I start my walk through a savannah which has been partially mowed, so you can actually see the animals (most animals are pretty hard to see in high grass. There are wildbeast, gazelles and warthogs--which are fun to watch trotting across the plains. A pleasant walk, but I certainly wouldn't exclaim "Oh! I'm in 'real' Africa now!" This is an artificial park, nothing more...

I follow the paths, through the brush and forests . There a small pond where I can see a pair of nostrils poking out. Hippopotomus? I'd like to see a little more of you... Maybe throwing a rock in the water next to Africa's Number One killer of humans is, is not such a good idea! (large mammal killer, that is...)

Next I climb a giant rocky peak, which was used for executions, back in the day by throwing the convicted person off the top... This time there's just a French couple up there who live on the island of Reunion and are here on vacation...

I continue on down through the hills and forest, stopping for a refreshing dip in a stream... then down to to the main camping area where there's a swimming pool and crowds of people enjoying their May Day holiday.

A group of college girls join me at the table, and ask me to play a song for them, to which I gladly agree. They're studying to be teachers, but don't seem to be very hopeful about their job prospects for the future . One of them insists that I take her with me to America.

I finish my tour with a hike around the reservoir, joined by an older Texan couple, where we talk politics and Donald Trump for a bit... a reminder of the country I'm to return to in a few days--which I've enjoyed disconnecting from.

And with that, I begin the long walk home, into the sunset.

Being a Table Busker for a Day

But my day's adventures aren't quite over. Back at the Gables Shopping Mall, looking for some supper, I run into a couple of guys practicing their guitars in the alley. I pull out my guitar and join in.

"We're going busking... do you want to join us?" I'm not exactly looking (or smelling) very presentable after hiking all day, but I don't want to miss this opportunity... So I join them for my first ever table busking experience .

"Table busking" means you go to a restaurant and go table by table and play songs for people for tips (with permission from the management, of course!) It's a type of performance that's outside of my comfort zone, but I'm up for trying something new... as I don't usually like if someone comes to my table, indirectly asking for money while I'm trying to eat...

One of the guys has some very nice original songs--in English and in Swazi. The other actually got a college scholarship and studied in North Carolina for 3 1/2 years. Sadly, he wasn't able to finish his studies...

We head to the first restaurant. I imagine it looks a little odd for a tourist to be busking alongside two locals, but it's fun... We get a mixed response. Usually the white folks give us an abrupt "no" when we approach their table, but many of the black patrons welcome us as entertainers rather than beggars. We take turns, I sing a song or two of my own that are easy to play along with... we collect our tip and head to the next table...

Doing the math, this actually is a pretty decent way to make money. In an hour these guys can make more than many folks here make in a day. Don't think I'll be doing this again any time soon though...