Mantenga Culture Cycling Tour

This half-day cycle tour starts at Mantenga in suburban Swaziland across the Lusushwana River and offers access to Lobamba, the Royal Village and home to the National Stadium, Houses of Parliament, National Museum, National Archives, King Sobhuza II Memorial Park, National Church, and Ludzidzini, home to the Swazi Queen Mother and site of the annual Swaziland Reed Dance.

Follow your friendly local Swazi guide on a trail of interaction, meeting people, visiting homes, tasting Swazi beer at a shebeen, roasting bits of meat on the fire, buying fruit at the market, and generally mixing with Swazi people in a way that one can only do on a bicycle.

The trail then moves on to Mantenga Nature Reserve with lovely natural scenery, waterfalls, and a 19th-century Swazi Cultural Village in pristine settings. Learn about the traditions and beliefs of the Swazi nation, as preserved in a living museum, and then catch an energetic foot-stomping display of the traditional Swazi Sibhaca dancing.

Mantenga is an Eswatini National Trust Commission property and one of Eswatini’s (Swaziland’s) top tourist attractions. It centres upon the picturesque Mantenga Falls and incorporates a cultural village, where Swazi history, culture and tradition are brought alive for visitors.

Set against the scenic backdrop of Nyonyane mountain, this replica mid-19th Century Swazi village, constructed using authentic materials and techniques, is one of the country’s most popular attractions. For a modest fee, visitors may wander the village at leisure.

A guided tour will reveal much more, from how the huts are built and what each is used for, to the role played by the sangoma, or traditional healer. Among the huts you will meet the villagers, including women preparing food, planting grass and making traditional beadwork, all for sale. At a small showground behind the village, a dance troop performs traditional sibhaca routines twice daily. It’s a lively show, comprising vigorous high-kicking, pulsating drumming and some rousing singing.

After a couple of hours wandering around the village and watching the dancing, the drinks and refreshments at the Swazi River Café are very welcome.

This small reserve protects a tract of unspoilt woodland along the Lushushwane River. As well as the Cultural Village at its entrance, the reserve’s prime attraction is Mantenga Falls, Swaziland’s largest waterfall by volume. The river tumbles over a rock shelf before cascading via a series of pools along the reserve’s southern boundary with Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary.

Visitors can explore a series of short trails that lead to a picnic spot at the falls. Wildlife in the area includes baboon, duiker, rock hyrax, porcupine, bushpig, nyala and klipspinger, although you are most likely to see the vervet monkeys that hang around the lodge, hoping for handouts. Look out too for rare southern bald ibis, which often roost on the cliffs above the falls. The reserve – together with its cultural village and restaurant – makes for a perfect half-day trip. A cosy lodge within the reserve also caters to over-nighters.

Activities in Mantenga Reserve, Village & Falls