Mbabane

Mbabane is Eswatini's administrative capital, set in the Dlangeni hills at around twelve hundred metres, which gives it a cool climate and frequent mist that the rest of the country does not have. The city grew around a trading post and remains fairly small, with a central market selling crafts and produce and the Ezulwini valley dropping away to the southeast. Parliament and the royal residence are at Lobamba rather than here. The name comes from a chief who was living here when British settlers arrived in the 1880s.

History

Mbabane was founded in 1887 by Mickey Wells at the point where the route from the Transvaal to Mozambique crossed the Mbabane River, and it takes its name from a chief, Mbabane Kunene, who lived in the area when the first British settlers arrived. The town grew after the administrative centre was moved here from Bremersdorp, now Manzini, in January 1902, when it became the capital of the new British protectorate, at first a few shops, churches and schools; by the 1930s it had electricity, running water, telephones and a hospital. After the Second World War new trade schools, the Goba railway linking Maputo with the mines of South Africa, and foreign investment, especially in sugar, made it the hub of development in the Hhohho region, and it later became the centre of the country's tourism, at an average elevation of 1,243 metres (Wikipedia, Mbabane).

The main sights

• The hill setting - a capital at twelve hundred metres in the Dlangeni hills.
• The central market - crafts and produce in the middle of town.
• The Ezulwini valley - the ground dropping southeast from the city.
• The split capital - administration here, parliament and monarchy at Lobamba.

When to go

Year round. Winter mornings are cold and mist is common. Summer afternoons bring heavy rain.

Practical notes

There is not much for a visitor beyond the market and it works mainly as a base. Traffic through the centre is heavy. Mist and rain close in frequently.

Nearby

Ezulwini is southeast, and Sibebe Rock is north.

Key facts