The best things to do in Mbabane are the Sibebe Rock climb, walking or cycling among zebra in Mlilwane, the dance shows and falls at Mantenga, the escarpment trails of Malolotja and the 43,000-year-old Ngwenya mine. Add the Malkerns craft workshops and the Lobamba museum. Three or four days with a car covers it; May to September is dry and clear.
Mbabane is a small hill capital, grown from the British administrative post moved here from Manzini in 1902. The town itself takes a morning. The reason to base here is what sits within 40 minutes: Sibebe Rock, the Ezulwini Valley and the highland reserves.
Proclaimed in 1961, Mlilwane is the kingdom's first protected area and has no big predators, so you can walk, cycle or ride a horse between zebra, wildebeest and blesbok. The best first day in Eswatini.
A granite dome about three billion years old, rising some 350 m over the Mbuluzi valley and often called the second-largest monolith on earth. A marked path from Pine Valley reaches boulders, caves and a summit view.
A reconstructed 1850s homestead of 16 beehive huts, and the only venue in the country with a permanent dance troupe. After the show, walk ten minutes to Mantenga Falls, the biggest in Eswatini by volume.
Three rivers cut forested ravines into the highveld here, and the Malolotja Falls drop 89 m, the highest in the country. The canopy tour runs ten zip-line slides and a 50 m suspension bridge over the Majolomba gorge.
Archaeologists date the iron-ore workings at Lion Cavern to at least 43,000 years ago, which makes it the oldest known mine in the world. Miners dug specularite, the glittering ore chiefs wore as body paint.
Started in 1979 with Swedish aid, the furnace turns old soft-drink bottles into glass animals and tableware, all of it 100% recycled. A walkway above the floor lets you watch the blowers at work.
Built in 1972, the museum covers Swazi culture, history and natural history, with a beehive village outside and King Sobhuza II's cars from the 1940s. The memorial park to the king stands across the road.
Malkerns' social hub: a farmhouse restaurant, the House on Fire venue and the Gone Rural shop, where rural women weave lutindzi grass into baskets and mats. Founded in 1992, it is the best place to buy Swazi weaving.
A workshop making candles by hand since 1981, using a millefiori technique borrowed from glassmaking so the pattern glows as the wax burns. The centre around it holds batik, jewellery and a café.
The city's market is a set of halls: fruit and vegetables on one side, a handicrafts hall of soapstone, weaving and beadwork on the other, and a canteen serving simple Swazi meals.
The royal marula harvest celebration, with buganu brewed from the fruit.
A public holiday for King Mswati III, born in 1968.
Three days of music at House on Fire, Malkerns. Tickets sell out.
The Rotary charity climb up Sibebe Rock, held since 2004.
Ten days of stalls and shows at the Mavuso centre in Manzini.
Eight days at Ludzidzini as young women bring reeds to the Queen Mother.
Somhlolo Day, for independence from Britain in 1968.
The sacred kingship ceremony, dated by the royal astrologers.
At Sikhuphe, about 70 km east, with Eswatini Air flights to Johannesburg. Allow about an hour to Mbabane by taxi or transfer.
The main crossing from South Africa, on the N17/MR3 about 20 km west of town. Most visitors drive in from Johannesburg.
Shared minibuses leave the rank by Swazi Plaza when full. Manzini is about 40 minutes and very cheap.
The reserves and valleys are spread out, so a hire car is the easiest way to see them. Agree taxi fares before you set off.
Stiff maize porridge, served with meat or greens.
Thick soured milk, often poured over ground maize.
Pumpkin cooked into a sweet and savoury porridge.
Whole maize kernels, boiled and eaten plain.
Dried raw meat, the Swazi take on biltong.
Pumpkin leaves boiled with ground peanuts.
Local chicken in a peanut sauce, eDladleni's signature.
Marula beer, brewed in the late summer harvest.
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Eswatini 