On our first off day, my team and I decided to hike the mountain in our backyard. By backyard, I mean about 3 miles from our house to the base of the mountain.
We have a friend who we met here in Swaziland. She is a fifteen year old local named Paulette. Luckily, her godmother lives on top of the mountain so she knew her way up. Without Paulletes guidance up this mountian, I don’t really know if we would have made it up.
The hike to the base of the mountain was about and hour down a dirt road and the hike up the mountian took us about 2 hours. In total, we walked about 14 miles, give or take some. It was difficult but it was so worth it once we reached the top. When we reached the top, there was so much on the top of the mountain that I wouldn’t have ever thought would be there. There was a village, tons of little houses, and more. It was incredible up there.
We made it to Paulette’s godmothers house, but she wasnt there. So we sat and ate our lunch in hopes that she would come back by the time we finished. But she didn’t. Paulette started asking the neighbors and the other locals if they had any idea of where her godmother was for the day. They told her that she was at this party past the school down the road. We didn’t want to leave without Paulette getting to see her, so we decided to walk down there and try to find her.
After walking about a mile down the road, we found the “party” that the locals were talking about, except it wasn’t really a party at all. It was more of a tribal gathering.
Picture this: everyone wearing wrap skirts, some women not wearing tops, men holding spears and shield-looking things, people with face paint on, and more. They were all standing in a circle, singing what sounded like chants and dancing in ways that we’ve never seen before.
Upon entrance, some of my teammates and I were a bit frightened. As soon as we found Paulette’s godmother, more of us were at ease and started to feel better about the situation. Her godmother introduced us to many others and they insisted that we step in and take part in the circle of dancing and singing, so we did.
We had found out a few minutes later that every twenty-third of September, a certain Swazi tribe always celebrates a holiday called “Hertiage Day” and we just so happened to wander in on that day. It was a holiday to honor the chief of that tribe, so we got to see him and experience a lot of Swaziland culture that we didn’t even know we were going to see.
Before we left, they insisted on feeding us some of their authentic Swazi food, and it was so kind of them and very delicious.
Here’s the thing. Upon entering, I was scared of what was about to happen and not very open to doing things that scared me. But I did it and I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world. The fact that this tribe was so happy to let us in and feed us was so amazing. My team and I felt very welcomed and blessed by the fact that they just let a group of around 9 westerners wander in on their holiday celebration that is only once a year.
Next time you get the opportunity to do something that may scare you, do it. The outcome will be so worth it.
