Written May 24th
We always seem to carry certain expectations with us of what people, places and events will be like. As a world racer I do my best to set those expectations aside because they’re almost always proved wrong.
The landscape of Swaziland was one of those things. For some reason I was expecting flat, dusty, hot savannah. I blame the discovery channel. As we drove across Swaziland to our ministry site, El Shaddai, I was blown away by the beauty and diversity that it holds. In less then 70 miles we drove across flat bush and up into the mountains. Up and up and up we drove on single-lane, unmaintained dirt roads. There were some parts that I was positive that we wouldn’t be able to pass in our 15 seat van hauling a trailer with all of our gear. We climbed above tree line and into a unique ecosystem similar to the highlands of southern Virginia (Mt. Rogers area). The mountain sides sprinkled with incredible granite formations and low grass.
As we pulled into El Shaddai after stopping to ask directions several times from the locals, the growing excitement was rewarded. El Shaddai sits on the side of a mountain. About 1500’ above and two miles away are two large exposed peaks. I glanced at my watch, our elevation at El Shaddai was about 4500’! We were literally in the middle of no where. It was a 2 hour drive to the nearest town. Our water came from a nearby fresh mountain stream, and there were no mosquitos because of the elevation. As our contact showed us our lodging for the month, we were introduced to this view.
The building in the photo above was our kitchen for the month. Behind the kitchen sat a huge slab of granite that simply became known as “the rock.� The Rock became a highly fought over devotion spot in the mornings.
During our month at El Shaddai we were able to see some incredible sunsets. Here are some examples below
