Doug and Paisley in SWAZILAND: Ann and Andrew Return to Swaziland

Our dear friends, Ann and Andrew Jordan, came from London to visit us in Swaziland from the 10-18th of December. They are truly some of the best 'travel buddies' ever as they also came to our wedding in Belize and to our place in California...which means that they've visited us in 3 different countries, to date. They either really like us or just really like where we live (ha, ha)! As you already know, Doug is energetic (to say the least) and interested in doing anything and everything. Well, when Ann and Andrew are on vacation, they are exactly the same; and while they were here they didn't disappoint. While Doug was mostly at Teen Camp (sad for us, but happy for him and all of the teens), we took advantage of everything Swaziland has to offer...

We went to Malalotja and did the canopy zip-line tour. We went to Mlilwane and did a mountain biking safari. We climbed Sibebe. We went whitewater rafting down the Usuthu River. We played golf at the Mbabane Club ('club'). We ate out. It was fantastic!

Arriving in Malalotja for the Canopy Tour

Our guide

It's about a 25 minute drive from the registration office to the start of the canopy tour; therefore, it was a nice opportunity for a mini-safari

Antelope abound in Malalotja. I'm not quite sure which kind this is; I'm guilty of referring to them as 'DLTs' or 'deer like things'

On the trail to the first zip line

Views from the canopy tour

Andrew zipping along (he's the barely there dot dangling from the wire)

Ann zipping along

My turn

The scariest part of the tour was crossing this bridge! It wobbled and swung and swayed with every step

I know every time I blog about Malalotja that I talk about the 'layers of mountains.' It is just so beautiful; it never gets old...

Our next adventure brought us to Mlilwane Game Reserve in the Ezulwini Valley

It was a rainy Sunday, but we made the most of it and rented mountain bikes in the park

Despite the rain, all of the animals were out and we spent the first part of our journey following this herd of zebras

There was a baby zebra with the bunch and he was often sheltered by the herd, so this was the best shot

Mr. Warthog

It was more like London weather than Swaziland

We also had a lot of bird sightings; this tree is covered in bird's nests

They hang from the limbs and the openings are at the bottom; they are really neat. I think that the bird is a Yellow Weaver, but I could be making that up (I'm not much of a birder). Here's one going into its nest

After our mountain biking safari, we had a drink at the Hippo Hideaway Restaurant in the park

And overlooked the hippo pond which was more full of crocodiles and this nasty bird tree. It was totally infested; we counted like 4 different types of birds and were pretty far away.

This bird was sporting his 'mating' colors and was just in the reeds in front of our table. There's a yellow version of this little guy that I call the 'flying tennis ball' bird. Like I said, I'm not much of a birder!

Our third adventure was hiking up Sibebe (the largest exposed granite dome in the world).

Since it is the rainy season, the grass is green and the meadow at the top is aptly nicknamed, 'The Shire'

View of the valley from the top

Our fourth and most death-defying adventure took place in two-man rubber kayaks on the Usuthu River. Normally, when one goes whitewater rafting, one is in a large boat with approximately 8 people (including a professional guide). Well, scrap that on the Usuthu. Andrew and I were in a two-man rubber kayak (sans professional). Since the boats were nicknamed 'the divorce boat,' we decided I would go with Andrew and that Ann would ride with one of the guides. We also thought that this would mean that she would stay in the boat and since she was a little less excited about the rapids, this was a nice compromise. In the end, though, her boat tipped too, so the professional wasn't necessarily the secret weapon she was hoping for! As previously mentioned, its the rainy season; therefore, the river was running. Class IV rapids for 24 km and two time we had to porter our boats around Class VI waterfalls. One wrong turn and...

Because we didn't want to risk the camera on the river, we only have a couple of shots pre-trip. You'll just have to take our word for it that it was TOTALLY INSANE. So insane, in fact, that I'm not going to go again. I'm sending Doug at the end of the month on a 'boy's trip' since he had to work and I'm too scared (now that I know what awaits me) to go again. Scared, I tell ya. It was NUTS.

Don't worry, they were inflated before we departed

At this point, we have no idea what we're in for...

After whitewater rafting and going to bed at 8:00pm out of exhaustion, we opted for a more serene adventure on Ann and Andrew's final day. We played 9 holes in Mbabane and enjoyed a perfect sunshine-y day.

Andrew committed to taking a series of lessons upon his return to London

On their last night, Ann and Andrew treated us to dinner at Malandela's for my Birthday. We had a great table outside and under the stars and thoroughly enjoyed our last evening together. Since we were sitting on opposite sides of the table, it looks like we traded husbands in these photos!