Eswatini

Eswatini - formerly Swaziland, renamed in 2018 - is one of the last absolute monarchies on earth, a small kingdom between South Africa and Mozambique that has held onto its royal ceremonies with a conviction bordering on defiance. The Incwala and Umhlanga festivals are not performances for tourists but living rites, attended by the king and the nation. Milwane Wildlife Sanctuary is the rare game reserve where you can walk or cycle without a guide, the animals habituated enough to share the paths with something other than a vehicle.

Our guide is being written from the ground up, with the time this place deserves.

We are still gathering the notes that make a guide worth keeping: royal ceremony calendars, Milwane cycling routes, craft market trails and the homestead stays where the kingdom's daily life is more visible than its ceremonies.