Swaziland - Our 1st Vacation Stop

We're back from our awesome 2-week vacation 'down south' to South Africa and Swaziland. We logged a total of about 3,000 miles in the car! Believe it or not, the time was relaxing - except for my hubby who did all the driving. Many asked if we were taking a DVD player in the car. (All that time in a car - won't we all go crazy?!) Mine and my hubby's thought was, "when we were kids, we didn't have a DVD player on our family road trips, and we survived just fine". (Although I don't remember how much bickering and aggravating took place with siblings...I'm sure our parents remember!) Anyway, we did pass away the hours by listening to The Chronicles of Narnia on CD, (19 of them!) by the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre. We all thoroughly enjoyed listening to the stories - the voices, sound effects, etc. Highly recommend them for road trips. Now on to telling you about our time in Swaziland!

This first picture is of my most favorite piece of artwork at the Ngwenya Glass Factory. What a beautiful vase!!!! I think the artist of this piece was inspired by one of the many peacocks that can be seen walking around the grounds, like this one.

More vases and bowls

One of the highlights of visiting Ngwenya Glass is to WATCH the artisans at work! We could watch all the aspects (from an observation area above the factory floor) of each piece of art being made by hand . Sadly, photos of the work being done were not allowed - but I did snap a picture of this cute sign before I noticed the "no photos" sign. Ooops. The artisans kept us mesmerized for quite a bit of time. (I found it difficult to leave the observation area - I could have watched them all day long!) So what were they making that was so fascinating? It seems that swans were the 'item of the day', as well as stemware. One of the artists treated us by blowing the molten glass into the shape of a large sphere.... I wish I could have taken a picture!

Here are some of the pieces available for purchase in the store

Giraffes and Zebras

Stemware - all shapes and sizes

Angels

The duck - chosen by our youngest to bring home.

In addition to the glass factory were countless other shops - all selling products hand made in Swaziland. We had a blast shopping! Hand made scarves, table runners, place mats, jewelry..

One of the shops was called "The Rocking Horse". We chatted with the owner and maker of these unique horses for quite a while. The proprietor is originally from England, and was a pleasure to speak with. He graciously asked our daughter to sit on one of his creations for a photo opp.

Isn't this zebra rocking horse just adorable????

Even swings!

View of Swaziland from the shops

Ngwenya Glass

View of Swaziland as we're driving along the mountain roads.
Reminded us of being in the mountains of North Carolina.

We stayed at the Forester's Arms Hotel. Lovely place. Food was delicious.




















Did your dad ever give you a 'noogie' on your noggin' when you were a kid? I think I hated that. Our child just cackled!


I've got many other adventures to tell you about and pictures to share, so check back in a few days!