Information on Swaziland, Umhlanga Ceremony, Swaziland Tradition and Swaziland culture, Incwala Ceremony (the first fruits ceremony)

The peaceful, small (17300 sq km) landlocked country of Swaziland with Mozambique on its right and South Africa, its neighbour on the other 3 sides, is ruled by its absolute monarch, King Mswati III.  In 2008, Swaziland celebrated its 40th anniversary of independance from Britain in 1968 but still enjoys an excellent relationship with its previous rulers. 

Tradition and culture play a very important role in Swazi life, with the INCWALA Ceremony (the first fruits ceremony)  in Dec/Jan and the UMHLANGA (Reed Dance) in Aug/Sep being the most important. 

It is at the Umhlanga Ceremony that the 40 year old king (born 1968) chooses a wife.  His majesty currently has 13 wives; lagging far behind his father who had approximately 120 wives. 

The country has four topographical regions, varying from 400 – 1800 mt above sea level.  At lower level, sugar cane dominates the economy whilst at high altitude, forestry and allied industries make a massive contribution.  Some of the largest manmade forests in the world are in Swaziland.

The Swazi people are wonderful – polite and very hospitable, but have the biggest aids problem in the world.

Swaziland, with its dependence on South Africa, has good infrastructure and the Emalangeni is on par with the S.A. Rand, so offers good value for money as a holiday destination.

Swaziland Information, Umhlanga Ceremony, Swaziland Tradition, Swaziland culture, Incwala Ceremony, Swaziland first fruits ceremony