Swaziland is a small landlocked kingdom surrounded on all sides by South Africa
except for roughly 100 km (60mi) of border with Mozambique in the east.
Roughly rectangular, Swaziland is approx. 17,000 Sq Km in size.
The country supports a surprisingly wide range of ecological zones, from savannah scrub in the east
to rainforest in the north-west, with patches of finbos, the 'fine bush' so common in South Africa.
The mountainous border country with Mozambique is harsh and dry and sharp mountains poke
out of the highveld in the west.
Nearly three quarters of Swazis work in agriculture, mainly at subsistence level,
although the nation is not self sufficient in food.
Swaziland's natural resources are fairly well managed and, despite the country's small size,
it claims some of the best wildlife reserves and national parks in southern Africa.
Elephant, lion and rhino have been reintroduced after being wiped out (rhino had been absent for 70 years),
and after some bloody battles between rangers and poachers, populations of both black and weidt rhino
are no longer critically endangered.
After travelling from South Africa into Swaziland you can sense a definite change in attutude.
The people are friendlier and more laid back than the somewhat cool and suspicious South Africans.
