Horsing Around Lesotho without Electricity

Greetings readers. This witty entry is coming from Lesotho on the African continent, one long haul flight from Hong Kong.

You’re Different South Africa

A 12 hour long haul flight from Hong Kong to Johannesburg, South Africa officially ended our time in Asia on this remarkable trip. Asia was fun, but we were ready for what Africa had to offer, something new and refreshing.

Joburg brought some immediate changes from what we’d experienced the last six months. The first was the ability to drink tap water without eyeing it suspiciously. The second was this foreign concoction of lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, and salad dressing. South Africans like to call it a salad. Haven’t consumed one of those in a long time. Thirdly, everywhere we’ve been in our travels, people have always mentioned the Joburg danger. Don’t go out after dark. Keep your wallet in your front pocket. Don’t talk to strangers. Be careful walking. Don’t carry a camera. Do this not that. Joburg does provide a real sense of dread, but even worse, Joburg is just plain ugly. Plus, the people tended to be just a smidgen off. Probably the same feeling you get talking to anyone in New Mexico.

One redeeming quality about Joburg was their very well done Apartheid Museum. This outlined in detail the struggle that apartheid (segregation) held on South Africa from 1948 until as recently as the 1990’s. Nadine and I were vaguely familiar with South African apartheid, but we never knew the complete story.

The Mini-Van

Transportation around South Africa and Lesotho to this point has been mini-van taxis. Simply, and similar to Indonesia but not as crowded, it’s a mini-van with five rows, three seats in each row, unless you are in the back seat, then there’s four souls crammed onto a bench.

Instead of a single mini-van from Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, to Malealea, one van transports you a third of the distance south. Passengers jump out at a nondescript point, switch into another van headed south, travel another a third the distance. Finally, drag yourself onto another one and complete the final leg. It takes a little perseverance, but it gets you there. That’s been our only form of gas powered transport. A few feet and horses have been the others.

Horsing Around Malealea, Lesotho

Lesothians, Lesothanauts, Lests?, people from Lesotho were very warm and friendly. Crossing the border into Lesotho, a girl from the mini-van in Johannesburg provided us unsolicited help through immigration. Where we really needed help as virgins to the African continent, getting to Malealea. She guided us directly to the first van leaving town. That turned out to be very helpful as the walk to that specific van passed through a parking lot past a hundred mini-vans. Without her, two travelers would have aimlessly roamed the grounds searching for the right van.

Three nights in rural Malealea was interspersed by sporadic electricity (limited electricity for five hours a day) and random peacocks running around. Perched above a valley, Malealea was the perfect town to sit back and observe life.

Our first order of business in the stationary Malealea was a brie (bbq). This onslaught of beef, chicken, curry, veggies, juice, and dessert hit the spot. I ate until my belly resembled the roundness of Nadines.

Let the Adventure Begin

All the great food energized the next three adventurous days led by a hike down through a river valley to a waterfall. Along the trail along the river bend, a random guy asked us if we needed a guide. Well, not really. The directions were pretty clear. A bit later, this aspiring guide strategically passed again during our water break maintaining just enough distance ahead of us on the trail to ensure we were still following. He basically voluntarily lead us. We shared food. Soon enough, a 40 feet tall waterfall loomed overhead. Swimming in a foot and a half deep water refreshed.

A pony trek to 400 year old Bushmen paintings down an adjacent valley highlighted our second adventure. Riding a horse was like riding a bicycle. Being that Nadine is from Nebraska, she naturally has an affinity for corn, and so did her horse. A ride through corn fields, framed with mountains in the foreground, allowed the two to bond without any issues. Every time we neared corn, her horse Corny craned his neck and bite a stalk of corn. I am sure Nadine had the same inclination. Needless to say, Corny had a great corn meal that morning and we had a great time looking at old paintings of Bushmen and the animals they hunted from years back.

The Joy of Old Footprints

Sadly we left Malealea as isolated Mt. Moorosi patiently waited along the southern edge of Lesotho for visitors. Once again, after a couple of mini-van exchanges, the Quthing mini-van waited to fill up with enough passengers, so we shot over to check out a set of dinosaur foot prints that were reportedly from just 1,800,000 years ago. The tiny office adjacent to the fossilized foot prints didn’t provide any scientific or historical information about the tracks. When I asked about the tracks, the lady silently handed me an old encyclopedia opened to the dinosaur entry. Hmmm, sounds legit to me . . .

Back at the mini-van taxi terminal, we waited and then followed that up with a little bit more waiting. Nadine and I passed the time throwing rocks at a can. First one to hit the green Sprite can won, Nadine won. During the second round, as folks started to pass by, they looked at us curiously, and I took advantage of this to invite them to play with us. Soon a nice crowd grew around us, and I came away victorious during the second round. We then got to the point where this man and I quizzed each other with math quizzes amongst the crowd. It was at this point a crowd really formed. Life was stuck in a moment with a little dirt drawing under the hot sun. Two people from opposite corners of Earth playfully tried to figure out each other’s puzzle. Success alluded both of us, but each one of us left with a smile.

Lightning Along the Milky Way

The final mini-van eventually attracted enough passengers and reached Mt. Moorosi Chalets. Of the six chalets, only one was occupied, by us. Two nights of seclusion in the heart of Africa. Three things entertained us the next two nights, bright stars, a small forest fire caused by lightning, and idle chatter on the porch surrounding by tall mountains.

Stars shown brighter than ever before. Out in the middle of nowhere Bolivia is the only spot that compares to the detail of the Milky Way. Mmmm, Milky Way.

As uninterrupted reading became monotonous, perched on the edge of our bed for the next hour and a half, I produced a running commentary on which flames flared up while others died out on the big screen nature hung up on the mountain side.

Finally in our southern Lesotho isolation, conversation moved to the porch. Topics jumped from, “dang, that is a big mountain” to “whew, they flies won’t leave me alone,” and “this sure looks like the U.S.” The perfect setting for belly rubbing.

Electricity Not Included

The majority of time in Lesotho was spent without . . . electricity. The lack of electricity meant we never had access to telephones, t.v., internet, and any other item requiring electrical juice . . . and we liked it. To spend a week without the convenience of electricity was liberating. Maybe we all should do this for a day.

Our brief visit to Lesotho was great, but Nadine’s friend Melissa on time waited in Durban and an entire day on 5 separate buses beckoned. All would be uncomfortable with the worst being in the back of a mini-truck with a hard shell tucked in the fetal position for 50 minutes. A hostel in Durban that night was a welcome sight.

So, what is the oldest ever dinosaur footprints found and where?

Life is good. Now here in Durban before traveling with Melissa south down along the Garden Route to Cape Town.

Peace
JW, NW, HDW