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We stay almost a week in the beautiful bush camp before we continue to Eswantini, formerly Swaziland. The border crossing is no problem. Everyone is very nice and friendly and nobody wants to look at the car. Because of the foot and mouth disease there are some restrictions on food and we have hidden our meat as a precaution. Eswantini is a small kingdom in the middle of South Africa of only 17,500 sq km and 1.4 million inhabitants. The king lives in luxury while his people are bitterly poor. More than 70% of the people live on less than a dollar a day and over 40% are unemployed. Meanwhile, each of the king's 15 wives has her own palace. In one of the world's last absolute monarchies, only the king is in charge. Political activities are strictly forbidden and violators face a 20-year prison sentence.

As a tourist, you usually don't notice any of this. The people are friendly and open-minded and laugh a lot. Our first stop is at Mabuda Farm, a coffee and vegetable plantation in beautiful surroundings. On signposted hiking trails you can explore the area and watch the workers picking coffee beans. In a cafe small dishes are offered and of course the excellent coffee. No wonder we stay here for almost a week and enjoy ourselves.