In the Lidwala Backpackers Lodge you will be accommodated either in a dorm room with bunk beds or safari-style tent with regular beds, with communal bathroom facilities. Bed, mattress, sheet and pillows will be provided, but your own sleeping bag is required. All rooms and tents have a veranda and the lodge has a communal kitchen to prepare meals. There is a TV lounge with board games and book exchange and a large deck area and outdoor pool. The lodge is surrounded by a spacious garden with plenty of trees and boulders (hence its name), a communal barbecue (braai) and campfire area. Often you can see monkeys roaming around the garden and the many plants attract a wide range of birds. Volunteers on other All Out social projects are also accommodated at Lidwala, along with backpacker travellers passing through the area.

If you wish, you may have the opportunity to spend some of your time staying with a Swazi family. This can be arranged prior to your arrival or after your arrival for a period of a week or so. Conditions vary dramatically depending on the family. Some homesteads are basic mud and tin structures with no running water, others are fairly modern homes. Please let us know if you wish to stay with a host family during your time. You may also go out on community outreach excursions into rural areas (depending on the needs of your placement) and may on occasion stay overnight in rural homesteads.

Lidwala has loads of activities on offer to do in your free time. Just hop down the road to visit a local craft market, go hiking in the nearby game park or just relax with a drink at the pool of a nearby hotel. To really experience Swazi culture, overnight in a traditional village and try local cuisine or explore the real Swaziland by quad bike. If its adventure you are looking for, go white water rafting, adventure caving, hike up a mountain, go horse riding or game viewing-all can be done nearby.

NOTE: When Swaziland Conservation Project volunteers are in the field, volunteers and staff camp at Mlawula Nature Reserve in dome tents with foam mattresses and pillows, all provided. You will need to bring a sleeping bag of appropriate warmth for the season. Flush toilets and hot showers are on-site, however, there is no electricity. Lanterns are provided in the bathrooms and at the All Out Africa campsite. A headlight or torch is still very useful to bring.  The camp also has a kitchen which consists of a gas powered stove, small gas powered refrigerator, pots, pans, and cutlery.

Meals

Cooking and dishes are shared between volunteers on a fairly relaxed rotational basis organised by the accommodation manager. Facilities are communal and simple and food shopping is done by the manager to cater for three meals per day. Generally breakfast will be cereals and toast, lunch will be sandwiches and dinner will be a cooked meal. Cooked meals are healthy and nutritious and we try to cater for different needs and preferences as much as possible, but it may be difficult to keep everyone happy all of the time and inevitably some compromise is needed. We ask you to be flexible and respectful about the food that has been prepared for you.