Day 368 Swaziland 05/11/2011, Maguga Dam – Legends Backpackers, Ezulwini valley. 41.81miles/67.17km, 5hr17minutes, Av 7.9mph.

One of the disadvantages of staying near the Maguga dam is that we have been looking at the surrounding mountains in the knowledge that we would have to ride over them to get out. The road leading up out of the valley was right beside our camp-site and no matter how many times you looked at it, it didn't lose any of its steepness.

Leaving the lodge this morning, we began the slow climb out of the valley, safe in the knowledge that we would soon be turning off on to the dirt road that would take us quickly to Mbabane. We hadn't expected the climb to go on for so long, 10km later and we were still heading steeply upwards.

Worse still, there was no sign of the dirt road that we had planned on taking. At the 11km mark and still climbing, Debs was pointed to a track by a local woman and told that this was the road to Mbabane. Unfortunately I had already cycled past so Debs raced to catch up. Unsure about whether this was the correct road, we decided to ask some other locals who told us that the road was about 400m further along. Needless to say 400m further there was no sign of the dirt road, but we did find the main road that we had been hoping to avoid! With no choice we carried on and once again started to climb and this continued for a further 10km. Unexpectedly it turned out that we would be climbing as high as we had on the road from Barberton to Bulembu.

With very tired legs and in my case not the most positive of attitudes, we ploughed on towards Mbabane. Unlike the previous road we had been riding on, the hard shoulder disappeared and we were suddenly at the mercy of the thankfully light, although not altogether cyclist aware, traffic. Once again though we had the beautiful scenery for company, which went some way to making us forget our aching legs.

After about 30km we reached the main free-way to Mbabane and happily found ourselves climbing again. Another 6km later and the road finally started to descend, as it turns out all the way to the city. Finding our bearings in the city, we arrived outside one of our potential accommodation options, only to find out they were full. Our next choice turned out to be a long way from the city.

What had started as a fairly simple day, was becoming anything but. Not really certain what to do next, we headed to the city centre to get some lunch. After some food, we decided that we had little choice but to carry on to the Ezulwini valley where there are plenty of backpacker options. Hoping that we didn't have many more hills to climb, we set off and were pleasantly surprised by a steep 7km descent. Before too long we were riding into the valley and shortly afterwards found ourselves outside 'Legends Backpackers'.

As we went to check in, I recognised a bicycle in the yard and low and behold we had bumped into Nigel again! There was always a chance we would bump into him again, but it was still quite a surprise considering the amount of hostels in the area.

After checking in we went to set up the tent in the back yard. Having come from South Africa where every backpackers seems to be in a secure compound, the security in the camp-site seems a little lacking. We are visible from the road, the back gate is open and very low and at night they lock the back door into the hostel. Admittedly we have the combination to the lock so we can get in, but it seems strange that the hostel is secured yet the camp-site is ignored. There is a security guard, but we are not sure that he does much patrolling round the back of the property. Having said that it seems an alright place even if renovations have closed the bar and chill out area. Fortunately as we are only 10 minutes walk from a supermarket, restaurants and a bar, the closures don't matter too much.

Having had a tiring day we decided to forgo cooking and went to the pub and grill for dinner, where we both had an enormous meal. The home made steak and kidney pie that I had was of epic proportions and it was two very full people that walked back to the hostel.

Dinner and the exertions of the day made Debs call it a night early, while I stayed up a bit later chatting to the other guests. We plan to do some exploring of the area tomorrow.

Day 367 Swaziland 04/11/2011, Maguga Lodge, Maguga Dam. Planning for the road ahead.

Not much to report today, other than I have been going sewing mad, repairing all of my slowly falling apart clothes, while Debs has been planning.

It has been another hot one today, so we have been glad of the lodges pool and breezy restaurant. The temperature has made the tent a no go area until this evening.

The lodge is very nice and the setting looking over the dam and the surrounding hills is terrific. There are definitely worse places to spend a day or two. Especially as the tree that we are camped under is home to several beautiful, but elusive Agama lizards.

In fact since arriving in Swaziland we have encountered huge numbers of lizards and unfortunately last night large amounts of cane toads/bull frogs. The noise that they make is incredible something between the standard ribbit and some one twanging a wooden ruler on a desk. When they all get together at night, it isn't the easiest sound to ignore.

We head to Mbabane tomorrow hopefully taking a short cut along a dirt road. Getting information on the state of the dirt road has been difficult, but today we have been told that it is alright. Lets hope that the information is correct, as taking the road means cutting about 20km off the main road route.

Day 366 Swaziland 03/11/2011, Bulembu – Maguga Lodge, Maguga Dam. 13.09miles/21.60km, 1hr24minutes, Av 9.2mph.

After the relative efficiency of South Africa, we are clearly back in more familiar African surroundings. Our transfer was booked for 9am and at about 10:15am we were underway. The minibus that we were travelling in was huge, so we were able to just roll the bikes into the back. It makes a change from having to disassemble and then rebuild them at our destination.

After managing the climb to the border yesterday, we had contemplated whether we could ride the 18km to Pigg's Peak instead of taking a transfer. Any suggestions of riding the route were quickly ended when we saw the road. Recent rains had caused considerable damage to the surface and the stony red dirt was incredibly rutted. Throw in some very steep climbs and we would probably have struggled to push, let alone ride. With an unladen mountain bike and a few days of dry weather I would consider riding it, but otherwise it would have been foolhardy in the extreme. It should be mentioned that the road winds through beautiful scenery though.

Arriving in Pigg's Peak we grabbed some supplies from a supermarket, loaded the bikes and set off for Maguga Dam. A steep downhill section didn't last for long and we were soon climbing again, albeit not as steeply as yesterday. The way our legs felt, it was just as well. We clearly need a bit more recovery time before we attempt another big climbing day. Fortunately today was to be a short one. Riding through some stunning scenery, the dam slowly came into view and we began a welcome descent.

Just before reaching the dam we stopped at a viewpoint and ended up having a nice and very reasonably priced lunch at the attached restaurant.

With stomachs filled, we continued down over the dam, avoiding the hippos and crocodiles (we never saw any but the signs told us to watch out for them), and rode up the hill to Maguga Lodge.

The lodge is pretty swanky, but fortunately they allow camping as the rooms are a little more than we would like to spend. The area is so nice that we are having a rest day before we leave for Mbabane, Swaziland's largest town.