Swaziland's Ezulwini Valley or "Valley of Heaven" has been the country's playground since before the 1960s when inebriated "diners and dancers" headed off to skinny-dip at the Cuddle Puddle hot springs.
Down the road, go-go bars provided fleshy entertainment for the desperate and the lonely.
The country's more conservative citizens would have raised a few eyebrows.
The Cuddle Puddle remains, although it's now a tad more respectable. Today, its owner coaches the Swazi Olympic team and the complex built around the hot springs has become the Swaziland Spa Health and Beauty Studios.
The go-go bars are a relic of the past and currently undergoing a respectable redevelopment.
Tourism in the valley just south of Mbabane is said to have developed around the Cuddle Puddle's activities - the casino at the faded colonial Royal Swazi Sun and golf course, craft markets, extreme sports, even nature conservation.
Conservation is not the first thing that I would have associated with Swaziland, I think, as our bus pulls into Mlilwane at dusk. Green exports, a polygamist king, rampant HIV levels and Ngwenya glassworks tend to spring to mind.
But in the rapidly darkening light, I see my travel companions whipping out cameras, eager not to miss the photo opportunity playing out in front of us. Tame deer and warthog pass by, seemingly undeterred by the human presence, before ambling off into the darkness.
Mlilwane, meaning "Little Fire", is set in the heart of the Ezulwini valley. Swaziland's most popular eco-tourism destination, the conservancy is an expanse of 4 500 hectares that is home to rare antelope, nyla, tsuni, egrets, crocodiles and other wildlife.
Besides crocodiles, there are no predators, and it is a popular weekend destination where guests can enjoy horse riding, walking trails and mountain biking. There's also an annual mountain biking challenge on the reserve.
Accommodation suits most pockets and needs: from back-packing and camping to cave sleeps and luxury with a breathtaking view over the escarpment.
Ted Reilly's family settled in the valley at the turn of the previous century. His father, Mickey Reilly, started a tin mine on the family farm, and brought electricity to Swaziland.
By the 1960s, the Reillys realised the country - once teeming with wildlife - was being denuded of animals. Hunted to near extinction, Swaziland faced a future without animals if poaching continued.
Ted Reilly approached the British for protection, but the colonial power felt Swaziland didn't need game parks with the Kruger National Park in such close proximity.
Undeterred, Reilly then petitioned King Sobuza II (Mswati III's father) for the urgent protection of Swaziland's natural heritage. This was granted, but Reilly pretty much had to go it alone. The king made his private hunting grounds available to the youngster, who tracked the animals, darted them, and then rugby-tackled them to the ground until the sedative kicked in. His methods may have been crude, but Reilly became the country's first game ranger and fathered conservation.
Reilly stocked his family farm with wildlife, and his conservation trust is a model the world over.
The private non-profit trust which he founded manages the country's Big Game Parks, and oversees the running of three game reserves: Hlane Royal National Park, Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary and Mkhaya Game Reserve.
We'd booked in to stay in Mliwane's traditional Swazi beehive huts, which offer basic accommodation and a hot shower.
After a substantial dinner in the Hippo Haunt restaurant on the property, we settled around the campfire to enjoy a Sibacha dance. Up here, the air is so fresh, the food so satisfying, and the people so generous that a middle-aged Australian man is inspired to get in touch with his tribal self by joining in the frenetic dancing.
Just before daylight breaks, we stumble out of bed to get ready for an early morning game drive, snugly tucked up with blankets to ward off the chill. We're rewarded with sightings of deer, nyala and black eagle, and even witness a crocodile kill in one of the farm's dams.
The man himself meets us to accompany us on a walk up the hill to view the Ezulwini Yalley below.
After four hip replacements, the seventy-something Reilly puts most teenagers I know to shame.
Humble to a fault, Reilly's a monarchist, and takes no credit for his legacy to the country. The king deserves the glory. It's he who had the foresight, he insists.
Reilly believes the king has had a bad rap in the media: "A lot of what has been attributed to the king is just not true. There is an equally dramatic story to be told about him. He is a remarkable man. I have worked with the royal house for nearly 50 years. I should know. There was virtually no wildlife left in Swaziland," he says.
And the animals are very much at home here. In fact, if you stay at Reilly's Hilltop Lodge, they even graze in the gardens. Reilly's original family homestead, built around the Anglo-Boer War era on a gentleman's agreement for an ox wagon, was converted into the luxury guesthouse. It's an exquisite example of colonial architecture, with low windows, stone masonry and indigenous woodwork. The lodge is surrounded by the Royal Botanical Gardens featuring aloes, antelope and birdlife. If you're very lucky, a little tsuni might poke its head through your bedroom door.
Reilly's Lodge overlooks the Ezulwini Valley and Rock of Execution, from which criminals were thrown to a gory death. Desperate times must have called for rather creative measures. Overnight mountain biking and horse rides to the Rock of Execution are very popular.
The Rock of Execution challenge is fully catered, so guests can enjoy sundowners on the rock and sleep inside the cave. Aah, don't you just love Africa?
- David Fleminger's Swaziland, a Southbound Adventure, is the first travel guide written about the country since 1983. For an insider's perspective on Swaziland, visitors are advised to take a copy along. This indispensable guide costs R145 and is now available at leading bookshops.
Other attractions
- White water rafting: Swazi Trails offers white-water rafting on the Great Usuthu River, caving, quad biking, rhino walks, bicycle safaris and trails. We opted for the white water rafting. The instructors were true professionals, very patient and had a great sense of humour. Although the water level was a little low on our river trip, the rapids were comfortably fast and brought out some wicked competition between rafters.
- Phophonyane Falls and Eco Lodge: Legend has it that a young man fell in love with a beautiful princess but fate - and evil witches - stepped in the way. This magical place offers three types of accommodation: luxury units, self-catering cottages and fully equipped tents next to the waterfalls. There's also a restaurant on the property.
- Outback riding: Hawane Resort has accommodation, a spa, horse riding around the Hawane Dam and a restaurant.
- Gap year tourism: Swaziland is very popular with youngsters looking to fill gap years. Students generally set up home in a backpacker's lodge and get involved in anything from conservation to health. For more information, consult Fleminger's book.
- Bulembo: Bulembo border is to the west of the country. Just before it is Bulembo town, which grew around an open-cast asbestos mine. It is now a ghost town but has become home to HIV and Aids orphans. Strangely, they're hoping for tourists. I'd take a gas mask along on the visit, just to be safe.
- Hint: The Swazi currency, lilangeni, piggy-backs on the rand, but remember not to bring large amounts into South Africa as you cannot exchange it here.
If you go...
- CONTACTS: Swazi Trails: +268 6020832 or e-mail [email protected]
- Hawane Resort: +268 644 2948 or e-mail [email protected]
- Phophonyane Falls: +268 437 1429, or e-mail rod at [email protected]
- Big Game Parks: Call +268 5283943/4, e-mail [email protected], or see www.biggameparks.org.
- Take your southern African Wild Card along to Swaziland's nature reserves for discounts. If you don't already have one, call 0861234002, or email [email protected]