Harvested inland, in the rocky and mountainous region of Swaziland this plant grows majestically tall and plentiful. Swazi Gold is very resilient to all weather conditions and the climate varies from tropical to near temperate but is consistently hot and humid. December is the stormy, wet mid-summer season and June the dry mid-winter season. The phenotypes found within this lineage could be very deeply rooted in Earth's history of cannabis as prehistoric rock paintings and artefacts found close to the plants date from ca. 25,000 B.C. Wildlife in the area mostly comprises of many insects, bats, birds, and monkeys, with rodents making up the largest percentage of mammals; not a great deal of
life here as the mountains are sometimes perilous.
The main tribe that live close to where the Swazi Gold grows are the Nguni people - part of the greater Bantu clan who occupy much of the Eastern and Southern parts of Africa. Nguni tribes keep similar political practices today to those used by Shaka Zulu - one of the world’s most renowned Zulu kings who is often hailed as a military genius but also condemned for the brutality of his reign. Other tribes here are the Sotho tribe who are largely agricultural-tending crops and herding cattle on horseback and Tsonga people also. The plants grow tall, sometimes reaching over 3m in
height, and in great numbers. Being a mountainous strain, it is very resilient, with thick, dark green/purple stems supporting one large, central cola with smaller, dense buds populating side branches.
The buds have orange and red hairs and are bursting with resin glands and the final yield is always impressive. The strong, sweet Mango smell also comes through on the taste and the high is typically buzzy and productive. Buds are usually strung up in the small wooden huts of the local farmers and smoked in pipes, but again, this plants pungent flowers are also used as an infusion to make a tea to treat bad stomachs, cold fever and to generally to keep people well. All over Africa we see cannabis used like this for medical reasons.