#Lesotho Three Tenners South Africa PT 6

LESOTHO

Today we had a wonderful and thought provoking experience. We travelled to the mountain kingdom of Lesotho and spent a day in and around one of its remote villages close to the NE gate called Monontsa. There was a lot to take in from the incredible beauty of this small country bordered as it is by the Drakensberg Mountains and totally surrounded and therefore landlocked by South Africa.

Here is some background. Lesotho is the highest country in the world if the calculation is based on the highest lowest place. It is also one of the very poorest countries in the world. The last census was 10 years ago when the population was 2.3 million. A figure of 4 million has now been mentioned but that must be doubtful because many have left to find work in SA and also because Lesotho has the highest infected Aids percentage of population figures in the world too.

Why does Lesotho exist? A massively short summary. The King of Basutoland was fighting the Dutch. He was losing so he did a deal with the British. The deal was the British would protect him from the Dutch if Basutoland became a British Protectorate. On the later formation of the country of South Africa Basutoland was not included as it was British and despite the fact it was land locked by the new SA. I think it was in the 1960’s that Britain gave up Basutoland. Basutoland had a choice – join SA as another state or remain a country on its own. It chose the latter and changed its name to Lesotho.

We had a wonderful day. We went through SA border control and entered Lesotho. Literally the roads run out. No border control – just a couple of porta cabins. We drive in on dirt tracks surrounded by the Drakensburg mountains. We are passed by a cart pulled by bullocks. Our vehicle finally gets stuck and passengers have to get out to assist the driver. A shepherd wrapped in traditional coloured blanket canters by on a horse. There are no other vehicles. No mechanical sounds at all. Amazing silence.

This is not a tourist area. Only our hostel Amphitheatre Backpackers bring people in. We visit a primary school – lovely friendly innocent children – some in bare feet. They love high fiving with us. We scale the rocky paths behind and have lunch under an overhanging cliff. The views are truly memorable and the scene is so peaceful. We are shown some very very ancient rock art on the back of the rock wall. They were very modest and very hard to see – but the significance was they were painted prior to the Egyptians.

Later we descend. We taste some local food – pape (maize porridge with spinach. It was a bit bland but a staple for them. We taste some beer fermented from peaches which we see growing everywhere. We met a revered local healer. A woman. She specialises in using herbs. Which herbs came to her in her sleep. I asked her if she had a cure for baldness. I didn’t understand her answer but she was smiling. These things sound touristy but actually it did not feel like that.

I could say much more but choose to let the photos do the talking for Lesotho. They are from my mob and as usual do no justice!