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As the smallest country in the southern hemisphere (about the same size as Wales), Swaziland can't be expected to compare with bigger African countries when it comes to National Parks. There are, however, several small game parks and nature reserves offering excellent game viewing, birding, hiking and mountain biking trails and horse rides. Perhaps the best known of the country's game parks are Hlane Royal NP and Mkhaya Game Reserve, Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary and the scenic Phophonyane, Malolotja and Mlawula nature reserves. The Kingdom of Swaziland has two main conservation regulatory bodies: Big Game Parks of Swaziland, a private organisation under the auspices of King Mswati III (Africa's last absolute monarch) administering the country's better-known wildlife reserves, and the semi-governmental Swaziland National Trust Commission (SNTC), mandated to preserve Swaziland's heritage, both cultural and natural. It runs several nature reserves. Swaziland's conservation efforts began in 1961 when then King Sobhuza II gazetted Mlilwane, an old family farm outside the capital, Mbabane. This was followed in 1967 (a year before independence from Britain) by Hlane, formerly a famous royal hunting ground. Lion live here (albeit in a large fenced drive-through enclosure) and other species include elephant, white rhino, hippo, crocodile, cheetah, leopard, giraffe, wildebeest, zebra and several antelope. In 1979, Ted Reilly, the doyen of Swazi conservation, established Mkhaya, originally to conserve the traditional Nguni cattle breed, and subsequently as a refuge for endangered species. Today Mkhaya offers exceptional game viewing, with four of the Big Five species, including black and white rhino, elephant, Cape buffalo and leopard. Rarer antelope, such as roan and sable, are also present. Mlilwane is free of large dangerous game species, as are the SNTC nature reserves of Malolotja and Mlawula, where hiking, biking or horse trails are on offer. Some of the hiking trails in Phophonyane and Malolotja, situated in the misty highlands region, are regarded as among the best in southern Africa. |
