Manzini Travel Guide

4 more images

I came to Manzini bus station in the middle of the day. It was terrible hot, and I had to wait one hour for my next bus. Make sure you have money to buy water or some other drinks. And ask somebody when your bus is leaving, so you can walk to another place instead of standing in the middle of the parking place.

Before I came to Swasiland I was told about the nightlife, people go to bed at 9 PM and so on... It's not quite true, but you have to be a little more creative to have fun. The main local pub is called Malandela’s and in the hang out of locals and volunteers alike. It is a great place about 15 minutes drive from Manzini and has live music entertainment. Every two, three weeks they put on a live show with music groups or DJs from South Africa or elsewhere coming to perform.

2 more images

The bus from Manzini to Johannesburg cost 160 Rand or the same amount in the Swasiland money, Lilangeni. Just pay to the cashier's office and give them your passport so you are registrated. You will get your passport back before the bus leave.

My first knowledge with rasism in Africa happened in this bus. I was the only white man in the bus, and it was obviously that some of the black people didn't like me. They were heading for their work in Johannesburg. I thought the difference between white and black people stopped with the ending of apartheid. But the suspiciousness is still there. For more than 10 minutes they were starring at me. It was unpleasant to think that it should be like this for 5-6 hours more. So I smiled at the person closest to me and said I'm a tourist for the first time in South-Africa. It helped a lot, and they stopped starring.

1 more image

It's a small marked right outside Manzini bus station. I didn't find anything of interest there, but if you want to buy traditional African clothing, why not...