Smithfield to Oshoek (border post into Swaziland)

Getting ready at 5 .30 in the morning while trying to be respectful of those next door still in deep slumber is not easy when you have creaking old wooden floorboards and a very squeaky bathroom door. Glad we did not have to face our bedroom neighbours over breakfast. Owner Nick kindly got out of his warm bed to return Terry's credit card which had been left at reception after dinner when settling the bill! Kudos to him at 5.30am !! We had to forgo our breakfast in lieu of putting some kms on the clock due to the next leg being approx 11+ hrs.

As a normally efficient and well organized wife and Mother, I made sure all the boxes has been ticked off when going thru my check lists for what had to be packed at the last minute.besides the passports and binoculars and wildlife books, I even reminded my husband to pack the Registration papers for our car and trailer as is required when entering another African country. Even our GPS was behaving, albeit that we found ourselves on the odd un-tarred road, compliments of the Tracks 4 Africa navigation system! I still had my trusted map book close at hand to argue with TK when I did not agree with the route chosen by GPS , knowing full well that we were heading for a dirt road which would mean we would have to travel much slower especially now that we were pulling a 1 .5 ton trailer.

As the sun peeked its arrival through the clouds, the surrounding hillsides lit up in various autumn shades with the beautiful Lesotho mountains in the distance. TK was kept alert dodging the many pot holes along the route snaking the borders of Lesotho. Feeding TK is also one of my main jobs whilst on road trips, be it biltong or nuts or even chocolate sesame snaps washed down with Red Bulls at 8.30am - anything to keep him awake so that I don't have to endure his self- slapping routine!! Tough job being a co-navigator!

Clarens, our brunch stop, could not have come sooner. Cramped legs and very numb bums needed stretching and coffee plus breakfast was now a priority. This quaint and pretty little town was a breath of fresh air with stunning Poplars in autumn hues and after a quick "look see" discovered this was clearly a platform and mecca for artists, manufacturers of wool products and anything from Cherry liqueur to delicious smoked olives, exquisite hand made chocolates and many tourist driven activities and numerous little boutique cafe's, micro breweries and restaurants . Various Accommodation options were spread around this busy vibrant and eclectic town which is on the doorstep of The Golden Gate National Park. We all agreed it would be a fabulous long weekend fly-in jaunt as its only 3 hrs drive from Jhb I loved the saying on the coffee shop board "Life is short so stay awake for it". TK take note ! We left with armfuls of hand made decadent chocolates and some gifts for friends back home.

The Border of Oshoek was still a long way off and advice was that this was one of the busiest border posts into Swaziland, Now it was time to get serious about finding the quickest way there and the two-way radios were very busy between our "gadget loving bushwhacker husbands". This was a new toy for TK and he found every opportunity to call his mate a few meters away. Having not been to Swaziland since our honeymoon some 31 years ago, we were keen to settle into the guest lodge before darkness set in to admire this cliff edge stone built piece of craftsmanship which had amazing views into the Mbabane valley .... . The Mpumalanga countryside was rather boring and nothing exciting to blog about. Boy oh boy was I going to be proven wrong in a big way!!

As the sun was setting behind acres of Pine forests, we arrived at Oshoek with Peter and Carol ahead of us in the queue - haha what queue - 4 manned windows of Immigration officials and then a mass of bodies all pushing and shoving for the front position. It was chaotic but somehow the queues were moving. All we needed at this stage was our passports and on request I handed Terry his 'red' cover passport. Of course I had the 'green mamba' supplied by our "tainted" Home Affairs clutched in my hand. No visas needed for Swaziland.

'Where's my SA Passport" said Terry - expecting me to dig into my handbag and produce it as well. My remark was not what he wanted to hear - and Carol and Peter were staring at me incredulously. "It's at home in the safe" I hesitantly informed him frowning - why would he need the green mamba when he had his trusted, valid British passport that got him into most countries around the world! Carol looked at me disbelievingly and exclaimed "you have to prove your residency in SA and therefore need both passports" . The blood drained from my face and my heart skipped a beat or three and then I broke out into a cold sweat! There must be a mistake - surely SA officials would see from his drivers license that he had an SA ID no and when they put this into their computer system - voila - it would reveal he was resident in ! Meanwhile Terry was drumming his fingers on the counter and taking deep breaths to control his disbelief, frustration and amazement at my stupidity in leaving the most important document behind. Much pleading of ignorance on my part with the Immigration official would NOT convince him to bend the rules and even getting the Big Boss with epulets involved, produced no results and so with much despair and our tails between our legs, we had to confront our fellow travelers with this bad news and send them on alone to Ematjeni Guest House in Mbabane while we backtracked to find a bed for two nights near Ermelo some 50 Kms away? With posters of 'report corruption and bribery" all over the walls and pillars, there was no way we were going down that road to curry favour with the SA bureaucratic system for a 2 day stint in Swaziland . Now on top of this disappointing saga, my passport was stamped with an entry into Swaziland but there would be no exit stamp to prove I had left. Wonder what ramifications this will have if I get the chance to again cross into Swaziland!!

Carol and Peter would not even contemplate leaving us and going onto Mbabane alone, even though they had their entry stamps and paid up accommodation. So like the true and faithful friends they have been along these past 3 years, they lead the way to find the nearest B&B which Carol had spotted a few kms back. I was now overwhelmed with their kindness and the tears were flowing after the stressful events of the past 30 minutes while TK tried to placate me - all which fell on deaf ears. So he cancelled what should have been our much awaited 2 night stay at Ematjeni Guest House in Swaziland, hoping for a positive response for some reimbursement.

Rocks and Roses B&B was hidden in a valley about a kilometer off the main drag - what a godsend as darkness descended - but the place looked deserted and very dark . We were all tired after a long day's drive of 11 hours and ready to bed down and the last thing we needed was to find that owners were not at home. Two yapping Jack Russell's greeted our arrival and then out of the darkness appeared the Owner who greeted us warmly and gave us the good news that there were two en suite bedrooms available for the night.

Bearing in mind that b&b's are not meant to serve you dinner, Collette offered to cook us a meal as there were no restaurants in the vicinity and we gladly accepted her kind hospitality. This "farm stay" B&B was situated on a small holding of sheep, mielie fields, vegetable gardens and a few cows to provide the owners and locals with produce and sheep to buy. Collette's husband Gerhardt was 20kms away watching the Stormers game on another farm. Our stocked trailers provided us with some snacks and a welcome bottle of red wine and JWB label and feeling more relaxed we four masticated the day's events that saw us only get a peek of the mountains of Swaziland. Conclusion after a few drinks was that Lizzie does not have a good track record of passport control - Philippines trip with Jen & Ed being a point in question, when at the eleventh hour I discovered my passport had expired !

Nothing TK, Carol or Pete could say would make me feel better - not even a delicious hand made chocolate from Clarens could ease the disappointment I felt about picking up the wrong bloody passport ! So much for what I thought would be an uneventful ordinary day! Needless to say, I had a very restless and sleepless night.

Next day saw us take a brief walk around the farm before a quick breakfast with chilled freshly milked cows milk and it was so creamy and general consensus was we are missing out having our milk so pasteurized where most of the real goodness has been extracted in the process.

A good decision made by Peter and Carol was to head straight to Mount Sheba outside Pilgrims Rest where we would stay in the 4 star Hotel for 1 night and relocate to Cottage No 3 until Friday 8th May. Over a candle lit dinner that night, Lizzie was duly voted mampara of the week!