A captivating glance of life in Swaziland from the eyes of an American child! Many interesting facts, along with crayon drawings and photographs, about an African country will surprise, shock, and spark curiosity in children. I read this book to a class of 3rd graders; they were so excited and got so caught up in asking questions and making comments that it was hard to contain them. A definite must read!

This book lets one easily imagine what living in Swaziland must be like. Nila addresses questions that kids (and adults, too) would have about a far-away land: what kinds of toys, clothes, and schools the children have, what kinds of food the people eat, and which way the water swirls down the drain! Through pictures and text, the reader discovers a bit of Swaziland's history, terrain, and people. I first discovered this book in a quest for multicultural books for my elementary classroom. I was so impressed with Learning to Swim in Swaziland that I bought it for myself, and both my thirteen-year-old and my eight-year-old liked it as much as I did!

I found this guide to be really useful, and to give me a really good sense of the places I went and the people I met. The practical info is very good, but unlike some of the other guides which focus mainly on practical info, this book also gave good insights about the different peoples living in South Africa (there's amazing diversity there, and the book helps explain who's who), the landscape, the history, and the animals (it has a wildlife guide that is a real help). It was a lot of fun to read and kept me entertained as I was deciding where to go next. The pictures scattered througout the book are also beautiful.

My grandfather wrote this book. He was the then King Sobhuza's special secretary or right hand man. My grandfather was a noted historian who wrote many other books about his country Swaziland. Aside from working withthe king and being a historian, he also established a historical museum village in the beautiful hills of Swaziland.
This book is factual, historical and very ingenious. He takes through a very interesting step by step history of the nation of Swaziland. I highly reccomend it

Another interesting book on indigenous cultures, this book tells the story of a westerner who underwent the rituals to become a Sangoma, a Zulu medicine man. What makes this excellent is that it is easy to understand the religion of the Zulu because it is filtered through a western view yet still understood. If you enjoyed this book, I also suggest that you check out Malidoma Patrice Some's "Of Water and the Spirit" as well.

From the back flap of the book we learn that James Hall has written a candid and dramatically personal account of his unique journey from a comfortable, predictable life in Los Angeles to a harsh and uncharted one in the tiny kingdom of Swaziland. His story shows how the pieces of life can fit together to balance people and nature, the mortal and the immortal, the physical and the spiritual. Sangoma weaves together the excitement of an adventure story and the wisdom of a deeply felt memoir from a man who has b1ended his roles as modern American and as diviner and healer of timeless provenance.

This book really absorbed me during the two days I read it. I could not put it down before I had finished the last page. James Hall gives a candid and vivid account of how he became a traditional African healer, a sangoma.

This is not just an outstanding adventure story but remembrance to all of us that more exists than meets the eye on the physical plane. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to further his/her horizon and enjoys a great book.

Andreas Biebl

...I bought this book to make plans for a trip to Zambia but the chapter about this country is only 40 pages long, both verbose and superficial. Don't get fooled by the "Adventuring" in the title, unless your idea of adventure is to hop by plane from lodge to lodge at $200 or $300 a night. More importantly, except for the park entrance fees, this book doesn't list any price at all (I got them from two other, excellent, travel guides). Comments on cheaper accomodations are few and disenchanted. The maps are equally few and over-simplified (the roads don't even appear!...) Finally, I looked at the chapters about the other countries and it certainly didn't change my opinion about this book. Note also that the date of the last edition (October 97) makes it relatively outdated.

This book is an outstanding resource to be read prior to traveling to South Africa. It covers many different aspects of what the experience will entail. These include the history, etiquette, positives and negatives of each type of travel, various diseases and safety precautions one should take. In addition, he thoroughly delivers every aspect of each south african country...ie. countryside, animals, weather, and history. This book in interesting, exciting, and educational!

This book is full of interesting and pertinent travel information; it is a MUST for anyone interested in game-viewing and travelling in southern Africa. The author gives best times to travel depending on what you want to see, and for each country, lists brief history/present politics, places to stay--easily accessible to remote--and how to get there and what you may see. He also gives a comprehensive packing list, medical info, and tips on game viewing. Out of the 4 books I bought on southern Africa, this is the one I referred to most often. This book, coupled with The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals, is an invaluable southern Africa traveller's necessity.

this is a fine ethnographic monograph on the Swazi. It covers a brief history and clever analysis by Hilda Kuper. It is from the fine series of case studies in cultural anthropology, edited by George & Louise Spindler, and is a fine additon for any anthropologists or africanists book shelf.

Rough Guides has an odd point of view on South Africa. Crime is a relavent issue there. Don't trust this sugar coated point of view.

I am a tour operator and registered tour guide in South Africa. On a recent research trip of more than 10 000 km/ 7 000 miles I used the Rough Guide to go and look for the sites and places most people miss out on when following the well-known tourist routes. The Guide proved to be an invaluable asset in this regard and I strongly recommend it to foreigners and South Africans alike. Its information on the country's history, personalities, culture, visa-requirements, health issues, places of interest, etc. is quite incredible.

I used the 3rd edition of this guide on my first trip to South Africa in 1999. Back then, this guide would recommend places to stay in the most dangerous streets of Jo'burg, and guarantee the readers that the area was even safe to walk around at night. A taxi driver in Jo'burg told us he was appalled at their reccommendations on where to stay and where to go out, saying they were simply too dangerous, especially for white backpackers. The guide also had an aggressive attitude towards any predominantly white bars or clubs dismissing them as "artificial"... as if the only option was to go out in Shebeens.

Racial issues apart, they seem to be reversing this trend, and have been doing constant progress. This edition recommends mostly well-located places and acknowledges that some areas are just too dangerous to stay in. Otherwise neglected entertainment areas are being put into this guide too.

But the issue is that this guide is mostly useful in planning your trip, by telling how to get from one city to another, and what are the costs like, etc. It is also more useful in smaller towns than the larger ones. The fact is that there isn't a 100% reliable guide to South Africa, but this update is about as good as it can get.

This must be one of the worst researched books ever written. IT IS OUT OF DATE! Too many places mentioned have closed down 3 years or more before printing. An unacceptably high number of telephone numbers are wrong. Advice given is quite out of date - this can be costly in Africa! This guide is badly rated by just about anyone that have used it. Of an estimated 600 or more pax that i have met that have used this ancient "bible" about 5% said it was OK, the rest hated it. I cannot recall 1 person saying that they have found it useful. I would seriously recommend that anyone contemplating buying this online first compare this with other travel books available. Pick a couple of things that interests you and compare the different guide books. Not Recommended at all.

This book is an absolute dud and rates/deserves zero stars. Not only is just about all the information 3 years old, but this pathetic attemp misinforms travellers about everything especially safety. It would seem that this is just a reprint spiced up with one or two new details. I've been in tourism in SA 8 years and was astounded while reading sections. Places gets recommended you wouldn't see me dead in like an all night Steers fast food place in Durban centre for example - a definite/guaranteed redistribution of wealth waiting to happen. Then in Jo'burg 4 hostels mentioned after each other have all been closed for 3 years or more. I wouldn't even have picked up on that but the traveller who had the book tried them when arriving and he wasted about half an hour. He said he was also going to dump the book after i brought him up to speed on the Durban section. To Jon Murrays' defense (though i haven't met him) i don't think he is the guilty party. To my knowledge he hasn't even been in SA since 1996. But Jeff Williams has - a whole 3 weeks since 1996 of which he apparently spend 5 days in Swaziland. His political views on SA is well known in the industry here as is his alcoholism and his unprofessionalism. Although he has been tolerated up to now he will not be in future - not after this publication.

While travelling in SA for 4 motnhs I found this book amazingly helpfull. It had the best advices on how to save money, it had the best maps...I acctually knew more than the buss drivers sometimes and ended up advising them...hostels recommandations were great too. I have been looking into other guides to SA and found this one to be the absolute best.