The weekend of the 25 – 27th May 2018 is one I will always treasure. It was during this weekend that I took some time off to visit a neighboring country – Swaziland, now known as eSwatini (land of the Swati’s).

The following phrase holds some truth, “Stamps on your passport are life’s tattoos!” I still need to find out who is the originator of this profound quote that I love so much. And what an appropriate time it was to visit the last remaining monarchy in Africa because of the following three reasons:

One: The country was celebrating 50 years of independence from Britain.

Two: King Mswati III was also, appropriately celebrating his 50 year birthday as well whic was on the 19th of April. So, there was simply jubilation all around for this.

Three: Well, this last reason was my main one for embarking on the escape, to experience the biggest musical festival in Africa – The 12th edition MTN bushfire concert.

We traveled to eSwatini quite comfortably, using Durban-based Road trippers Travel Group – who we have utilized before, so we were in good hands going there, staying, being shuttled to the three day festival and returning home safely.

At the border.

ESwatini is not that far from Mzansi, that’s what I realized after the prompt time it took for us to reach the border. Something fulfills me about this passageway and having to experience the difference in service, if at all, between the two parts of the countries, is something I always look forward to. All went seamlessly and before we knew it, we were on the other side.

There really isn’t much of difference one feels after crossing over besides the fact that banks (and their atms) look a bit different that side and that cellphone coverage changes with the new setting. I do feel, however that the ‘Welcome to Swaziland’ signage can be beefed up a bit, luckily the cellular coverage that sponsors the Bushfire festival was on-call on this and ensured that the welcome billboard is in its rightful place.

Checking in was also a breeze, over the weekend we stayed at The George Hotel, apparently it’s the best place to stay in Swaziland, so they say.

An hour or so’s rest after reaching eSwatini, then we were all set to be shuttled for the opening of the MTN Bushfire festival. I really did not have expectations besides having to experience the best of what African music had to offer. I was lucky that I had a very clued-up festival partner who was on the ball with regards to what to expect from the festival. I had the line-up before hand so no ‘big artist’, so to speak, was scheduled on the first evening but I was looking forward to it nonetheless. The evening was quite cold, I wish I brought an extra jacket along but that could not prevent me from thoroughly experiencing the night. This was ironic as I thought they’d be enough ‘fire’ around the area to keep warm. Or was I supposed to ‘bring my own fire’ perhaps?

Highlights of the first night – 25th May 2018.

The opening artist on stage was Timbila Muzimba from Mozambique, who brought the magic and depth of Mozambican music and dance to the stage. The festival is jam-packed with about three stages running concurrently but my main focus was on the main stage. Two artists that stood out for me on the first night were both relatively unknown to me. One of whom was eSwatini-born Velemseni, whose serenaded the crowd with her neo-soul and alternative rock sounds that kept the crowd begging for more.

The other artist was Flavia Coelho from Brazil who literally brought and left every inch of hers on that stage that evening.

I was quite blown away (and satisfied with what I’ve seen so far) to be honest by the opening night so much that I left without catching two artists from South Africa, who had later slots. I am sure they did well.

Highlights of the second night – 26th May 2018.

The second day of the festival saw us miss fellow South African star Sam thing Soweto, of the ‘Akanamali fame’ and eSwatini’s very own Sands, who is also popular in our country, famously for his track ‘Tigi’. This was due to some delays we experienced from shuttles but we got to the venue nevertheless and experienced the breath of fresh air and cultured Sho Madjozi (this was the very first time she performed on the Bushfire stage and was also our first time catching her live as well). It was a night of firsts for both of us, it seemed. It was spectacular to say the least having to experience her energy and great scope of work live on stage. She performed after multi-SAMA award winning hip-hop artist Kwesta, who was a firm favourite.

Apart from day 2 being dominated by South African artists on the line-up, other electric and remarkable performances were delivered by Cape Verde’s Elida Almeida and Mozambican Kapa Dech. I ended day 2 on a high, looking forward to the big day of the festival which was on the following day, where big, international artists were on the line-up.

Highlights of the last day – 27th May 2018.

The last day kicked off with performances by eSwarini’s Tlale Makhene, who is one of the most sought after percussionists and Bholeja, one of eSwatini’s most gifted, soulful and humble musicians. Then in no time, legendary multi-Grammy award winning Ladysmith Black Mambazo took to the stage to a massive roar from the crowd, who were eagerly awaiting the renowned a capella sensation to get on stage.

And what a worthwhile wait that was as the group teased the crowd according with hits songs such as ‘Nomathemba‘ and ‘Homeless‘. It was at this point when I wished my father was around to experience this moment with me, I know how much of a fan he is of them. I am hoping to make it up to him one of these good days.

The segment of the festival was appropriately titled ‘Africa Tribute to eSwatini’ & it featured two other formidable and celebrated artists from Africa, each, legendary in their own right and space – Nigerian Afro-pop sensation Yemi Alade and Mali’s impeccable Salif Keita.

Seeing legendary African music pioneer Salief Keita was a dream come true for me and for it to happen in my lifetime was a blessing.

The three artists merged on stage again to create what was the best tribute to Africa and its music that I have seen to date.

Also managed to capture this beautiful moment when Yemi Alade did the current popular dance move in South Africa called ‘i-vosho’.

Take a look.

Then, just as I thought the festival experience was complete for me, came another South African legend on stage – Bra Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse. And it was for the very first time that I caught this phenomenal artist live. I have always dreamt of seeing him perform two of his most popular tracks ‘Burn Out’ and ‘Jive Soweto’ – and that happened on that same evening. Let’s just say, he officially closed the festival for me in grand style and taught me some valuable life lessons while doing so, which I will highlight shortly.

1. Never be apologetic (or aim too low) to God about you want from him. This came after he performed his hit track ‘Burn Out’ as the crowd would usually coin the phrase ‘Nkulunkulu ngicel’ izuka’ (God, I am asking for (some money) cents) along with the song’s beats, as backing vocals. He cautioned us to not aim low and ask God, instead, for all the riches and wealth He can provide to us, ask for Bit coins instead of ‘izuka‘ (cent coin) because He is able to do that and more for us.

2. As a leader, you must lead from the front and back. After nailing his set, right at the end, he took some time to appreciate his band and introduced each member of it to the crowd. Fittingly teaching us that as a leader, ‘You mustn’t always shine alone’. Bra Sipho shone with his band and shared the spotlight with them on that night.

ESwatini & the event in general highlights.

People of eSwatini are proud of who they are and are unapologetic about that. I recall a time during Kwesta’s performance when the guitarist played a tune of our national anthem ‘Nkosi sikel’ iAfrika’ (God bless our nation) on stage and everyone started singing along to it. Just next to me in the crowd, a group of Swati’s were having none of that, oversang their own national anthem concurrently with the South African one that was being sung. I was moved by this.

The MTN Bushfire organizers are commended as well for lining up an eSwatini-dominated music festival, which was able to showcase the best in home-brewed talent and artists to the rest of other Africans. The event was safe with a strong police presence inside and outside of the venue. The Malkerns Valley venue for the event had enough and well-kept ablution facilities, was kept clean promptly across the three days with no incidents of theft, robbery or anything of that sort reported that I was aware of. The cashless method of payment throughout the event made transacting within the venue a breeze and added to the safety element embodied. It was a unique association and mixture of different races, creeds, nationalities, cultures and diversity unified under one area at once. That was a remarkable sight.

On one of the days, we took some time to visit the eSwatini cultural village where we were taken on a tour of the culture and traditions practiced. We were also wonderfully treated to traditional regalia, music and dance from eSwatini. I must say, this part of the escape to eSwatini was a special highlight to me as it afforded us an opportunity to get close to the people of eSwatini by learning more about their ways of life in order to better understand them as people who embrace their traditions and culture.

This brief escape to eSwatini meant that I have visited two of the countries just next to South Africa so far, including the kingdom of Lesotho, leaving the traveling room wide open to other African countries that I am yet to visit.

Africa is an amazingly rich continent, in all ways and forms, worthy of being explored and celebrated from Cape all the way to Cairo.