Levi Rucker stands still in the jungle. Before him is a mutated leopard, eating his guide. Just before turning on him, Levi is spared by hunters. Levi explain in his first of many travel tips that iBandla lamaNazaretha are a religion whose leaders wear leopard skins as neckware despite their protected status. The poachers spare him and Levi catches up with his photographer on the way to the Swaziland border, where Levi cuts to the front of the line and presents a letter from their government allowing him passage to showcase their sights. Levi and his photographer are given conditional grants. They may enter, but must leave together. A precaution to avoid citizens escaping the country. That night, the photographer disappears from his room.
Levi continues without him, exploring Swaziland and getting a new photographer in a drug baron named Lindiwe Dyuba who keeps pushing to return to the border. Lindiwe wants to escape Swaziland and his life of crime. He assures Levi he can make himself look like his former photographer.
Outside a casino, Levi is attacked and Lindiwe saves him. The two celebrate with alcohol, drugs, and sex. At the last possible moment, Levi discovers that Lindiwe is a she in disguise.
The next morning Lindiwe explains her name is Tintswalo Mavimbela and he created the Lindiwe character because woman have no rights in Swaziland are often raped. Levi suddenly realizes that he may have contracted AIDS and Tintswalo urges him to return to the border with her. Levi reveals that his tourism article is a false front as he investigates reports of chemical weapons testing. He hopes the reports are true so that it will launch him to fame. Tintswalo argues but ultimately agrees to their original deal. She will be his photographer and he will escort her out of Swaziland.
The two explore their relationship while on a road trip through the worst country on Earth, stopping at one point for Tintswalo to sell drugs to a warlord. Ultimately, Levi must infiltrate the chemical weapons facility alone as Tintswalo reveals she is on the building's watch list for treason.
Inside, Levi meets Geils, a scientist responsible for an invention that induces madness and the application of it towards the Mambo, political opponents of the king turned into bloodthirsty zombie-like savages who are terrorizing Swaziland. Geils, mad himself, sees Levi as a kindred soul and invites him to join in the fun. He reveals his intention to poison a large lake that feeds to severel countries with the poison, turning the populace into Mambo, convinced that in madness is truth.
Levi steals a gun and shoots a propane tank, gaining him escape. Reuniting with Tintswalo, the two head towards the border before Levi has a change of heart. If he escapes, the lake will be poisoned and all those people will die. He decides to act. Tintswalo leaves him to walk back to town. Levi stops and has a beer, trying to come up with a plan. Tintswalo returns to him, only to be overrun by Mambo. Using a trick from the facility, the two escape death and Tintswalo, having seen the horrors of the Mambo, agrees to try to stop Geils.
As the lake is large, the two split up to ask the people in town if they have seen Geils. Levi discovers Tintswalo's car at an empty convenience store. He sees her being raped behind the store and returns to the car, grabbing one of her guns and emptying it into the man. He takes her back into town to recover at a motel and does the only thing he knows how to do: gets her high. Levi decides the Swazis are not worth saving and wants to drive to the border, but Tintswalo says these things happen to her because of the evils she's done. She needs to right this wrong.
The two pass a village made of shipping containers and their car breaks down before it reaches the lake. They take guns and ammo and hike towards the lake, only to find they are too late. Geils has poisoned the lake already. Military helicopters fly down and a battle between Geils' mercenaries and the Swaziland military begins. Tintswalo takes on the worst of the soldiers and is recognized by Geils. Levi loses a leg in an explosion. When the dust clears, the king and a few of his men kill all survivors except Geils, Levi, and Tintswalo. The king kicks Tintswalo in the head, knocking her unconscious, and toys with Levi as his men stomp on Geils and shoot him dead. As the king toys with Levi, another burst of fire is heard. Tintswalo stands with a machine pistol, having killed the soldiers from behind. Before anyone can speak, she empties the gun into the king.
The two suffer from mosquitos as they hobble back down the road, trying to keep Levi from dying. They rest at the broken car a moment before moving on to the shipping container village, only to find it now populated by Mambo.
Captured by the Mambo, Levi's bite-sized parts and organs are removed and eaten. In a futile, one legged leap of anger towards the creatures, he lands on their dinner table and they begin to feast on him. Again, Tintswalo uses his suffering as a distraction to reach a gun and save him. Levi demands in collecting up all his severed parts and taking them with him. "These are mine..."
Carrying Levi in a wheelbarrow, Tintswalo walks towards the bordertown only to find that South Africa, on the other side of the border, is swarming with Mambo, much to the amusement of the Swazis who watch through the fences with guns. A kind Swazi allows them to use his storeroom to rest. Tintswalo later returns to Levi, disguised as his former photographer. She is carrying the kind man's clothes in one hand and a bloody knife she seems not to notice in her other. She changes Levi into the clothes and puts him in the wheelbarrow, practicing her fake name and story about tourism. The Mambo have passed for now. As they go through the border, Levi sees wanted posters in the guard's hut. He sees Tintswalo as Lindiwe Dyuba on one and another for Sikelela Mavimbela which also looks like Tintswalo.
As she wheels Levi through South Africa, Tintswalo explains how horrible her life was in Swaziland and what she had to do to survive, revealing herself to be completely insane, possessed of multiple personalities, and one of the chemists who worked with Geils to develop the Mambo. Levi says nothing as he fears losing his ride and still finds Tintswalo attractive.
Once in a proper city, Levi's influence takes over in a whirlwind. He is hospitalized and treated for immediate injuries in all the luxury South Africa can provide. He arranges for Tintswalo to come to America as an informant through his government connections and his editor. They travel first-class, land in New York, and a car is waiting to take them to Levi's trendy loft. Levi warns Tintswalo not to go outside, gives her several hundred dollars, and points out the bathroom and the takeout menus before abandoning Tintswalo in the foreign environment, completely out of water. He retreats to a surgery unit and spa, in which his is constantly interrupted by her calls on matters such as the woman who broke into his home (the maid). While at the spa, a US government agent visits to request a debriefing of his activities. Levi tells him to read about it on newsstands and smiles, drinking a green juice. Checking out, Levi collects the messages from Tintswalo and throws them in the trash and he talks on his phone about "getting that one shrink to put my girlfriend on a shit-ton of lithium to make her real docile and sweet." Levi limps to the curb and hails a cab. He gets inside and directs the cabbie to go to Silvana's. When the driver replies, Levi sees that he is a sub-saharan African. He smiles and thinks. "You ever been to Silvana's?" Levi asks. "Not on my wages." Levi smiles.
Levi continues without him, exploring Swaziland and getting a new photographer in a drug baron named Lindiwe Dyuba who keeps pushing to return to the border. Lindiwe wants to escape Swaziland and his life of crime. He assures Levi he can make himself look like his former photographer.
Outside a casino, Levi is attacked and Lindiwe saves him. The two celebrate with alcohol, drugs, and sex. At the last possible moment, Levi discovers that Lindiwe is a she in disguise.
The next morning Lindiwe explains her name is Tintswalo Mavimbela and he created the Lindiwe character because woman have no rights in Swaziland are often raped. Levi suddenly realizes that he may have contracted AIDS and Tintswalo urges him to return to the border with her. Levi reveals that his tourism article is a false front as he investigates reports of chemical weapons testing. He hopes the reports are true so that it will launch him to fame. Tintswalo argues but ultimately agrees to their original deal. She will be his photographer and he will escort her out of Swaziland.
The two explore their relationship while on a road trip through the worst country on Earth, stopping at one point for Tintswalo to sell drugs to a warlord. Ultimately, Levi must infiltrate the chemical weapons facility alone as Tintswalo reveals she is on the building's watch list for treason.
Inside, Levi meets Geils, a scientist responsible for an invention that induces madness and the application of it towards the Mambo, political opponents of the king turned into bloodthirsty zombie-like savages who are terrorizing Swaziland. Geils, mad himself, sees Levi as a kindred soul and invites him to join in the fun. He reveals his intention to poison a large lake that feeds to severel countries with the poison, turning the populace into Mambo, convinced that in madness is truth.
Levi steals a gun and shoots a propane tank, gaining him escape. Reuniting with Tintswalo, the two head towards the border before Levi has a change of heart. If he escapes, the lake will be poisoned and all those people will die. He decides to act. Tintswalo leaves him to walk back to town. Levi stops and has a beer, trying to come up with a plan. Tintswalo returns to him, only to be overrun by Mambo. Using a trick from the facility, the two escape death and Tintswalo, having seen the horrors of the Mambo, agrees to try to stop Geils.
As the lake is large, the two split up to ask the people in town if they have seen Geils. Levi discovers Tintswalo's car at an empty convenience store. He sees her being raped behind the store and returns to the car, grabbing one of her guns and emptying it into the man. He takes her back into town to recover at a motel and does the only thing he knows how to do: gets her high. Levi decides the Swazis are not worth saving and wants to drive to the border, but Tintswalo says these things happen to her because of the evils she's done. She needs to right this wrong.
The two pass a village made of shipping containers and their car breaks down before it reaches the lake. They take guns and ammo and hike towards the lake, only to find they are too late. Geils has poisoned the lake already. Military helicopters fly down and a battle between Geils' mercenaries and the Swaziland military begins. Tintswalo takes on the worst of the soldiers and is recognized by Geils. Levi loses a leg in an explosion. When the dust clears, the king and a few of his men kill all survivors except Geils, Levi, and Tintswalo. The king kicks Tintswalo in the head, knocking her unconscious, and toys with Levi as his men stomp on Geils and shoot him dead. As the king toys with Levi, another burst of fire is heard. Tintswalo stands with a machine pistol, having killed the soldiers from behind. Before anyone can speak, she empties the gun into the king.
The two suffer from mosquitos as they hobble back down the road, trying to keep Levi from dying. They rest at the broken car a moment before moving on to the shipping container village, only to find it now populated by Mambo.
Captured by the Mambo, Levi's bite-sized parts and organs are removed and eaten. In a futile, one legged leap of anger towards the creatures, he lands on their dinner table and they begin to feast on him. Again, Tintswalo uses his suffering as a distraction to reach a gun and save him. Levi demands in collecting up all his severed parts and taking them with him. "These are mine..."
Carrying Levi in a wheelbarrow, Tintswalo walks towards the bordertown only to find that South Africa, on the other side of the border, is swarming with Mambo, much to the amusement of the Swazis who watch through the fences with guns. A kind Swazi allows them to use his storeroom to rest. Tintswalo later returns to Levi, disguised as his former photographer. She is carrying the kind man's clothes in one hand and a bloody knife she seems not to notice in her other. She changes Levi into the clothes and puts him in the wheelbarrow, practicing her fake name and story about tourism. The Mambo have passed for now. As they go through the border, Levi sees wanted posters in the guard's hut. He sees Tintswalo as Lindiwe Dyuba on one and another for Sikelela Mavimbela which also looks like Tintswalo.
As she wheels Levi through South Africa, Tintswalo explains how horrible her life was in Swaziland and what she had to do to survive, revealing herself to be completely insane, possessed of multiple personalities, and one of the chemists who worked with Geils to develop the Mambo. Levi says nothing as he fears losing his ride and still finds Tintswalo attractive.
Once in a proper city, Levi's influence takes over in a whirlwind. He is hospitalized and treated for immediate injuries in all the luxury South Africa can provide. He arranges for Tintswalo to come to America as an informant through his government connections and his editor. They travel first-class, land in New York, and a car is waiting to take them to Levi's trendy loft. Levi warns Tintswalo not to go outside, gives her several hundred dollars, and points out the bathroom and the takeout menus before abandoning Tintswalo in the foreign environment, completely out of water. He retreats to a surgery unit and spa, in which his is constantly interrupted by her calls on matters such as the woman who broke into his home (the maid). While at the spa, a US government agent visits to request a debriefing of his activities. Levi tells him to read about it on newsstands and smiles, drinking a green juice. Checking out, Levi collects the messages from Tintswalo and throws them in the trash and he talks on his phone about "getting that one shrink to put my girlfriend on a shit-ton of lithium to make her real docile and sweet." Levi limps to the curb and hails a cab. He gets inside and directs the cabbie to go to Silvana's. When the driver replies, Levi sees that he is a sub-saharan African. He smiles and thinks. "You ever been to Silvana's?" Levi asks. "Not on my wages." Levi smiles.
