A Little Lesotho

We went up the Sani Pass, got stamps at the South African and Lesotho borders, and then drove to Black Mountain. Even though it was very cold and windy, we had lunch on top with a view of the mountains below us. While we were eating, two shepherds came up to the group and one of them, with a makeshift guitar, started playing and singing for us. He seemed so happy to be playing - I liked it very much. Some people shared their lunch with him but I had eaten mine already.


After Black Mountain, we visited a Basotho village. (The people of Lesotho are called Basotho (plural) and Mosotho (singular).


A Mosotho woman invited us into her hut and shared bread and homemade beer with us. To gain entry into a hut, you say "koo-koo" --kind of like you'd say "knock-knock"--because there are no doorbells or hard surfaces to knock on. There is no running water or electricity and wood is very expensive, so cow dung is used for heating.


She gave us some fresh-baked bread that was cooked in a pot over cow dung. Incidentally, the pot also had cow dung on top of it - to heat the top of the bread like coals would, I think. Thankfully the bread had no traces of cow dung and was actually really good. We tried her homemade beer; it was okay. It was the color of milk, grainy in consistency, and tasted a bit sour.

Next stop was the "highest pub in Africa" where I tried a Maluti - local beer made in Lesotho. It was hoppier than I would have liked and it made me wish I'd gotten gluwein instead. Apparently, the highest pub in Africa, at 3800+ meters, specializes in gluwein. How random =)


And that was my experience of Lesotho (pronounced Leh-soo-too in Southern Africa). After the pub, we got our exit/entry stamps again and then went back down the Sani Pass past/through those gorgeous mountains.

Dragon Mountain

(Draken = Dragon; Berg = Mountain.) So I'm separating this post from Lesotho only because there are a bunch of pictures I wanted to post! I took a trip up the Sani Pass in Drakensberg which weaves through some amazing scenery: Rolling green hills, mountains, waterfalls, etc. The Sani Pass is the only way to get into Lesotho from Natal in South Africa. The roads are rough and often get washed out because of the rain/snow; a 4x4 is a must. If you pass the South African border in a regular vehicle, they will make you turn around. Interestingly enough, if you get to the Lesotho border, they'll let you pass in a regular vehicle (just so that they don't have to be responsible for you). (The South African and Lesotho borders have 8km of rough, un-paved no-mans land between them.)

I started the trip a bit grumpy because the Sani Lodge (where I was staying) basically sucked. It took me 30 minutes to buy milk and butter from their general store; I was in a 15-bed dorm that had lots of spiders and other creepy bugs; there was one bathroom/shower combo for the 15 of us; I had to switch rooms in the middle of my stay... the hits just kept on coming! We had two 4x4s going up the Sani Pass and we were an hour delayed the morning of the trip because one of the trucks had engine trouble. Even though I got to the truck early to stake out a seat by the window, I was asked to move to the other truck. I got stuck in the front between the driver and another person, and with the gear shift between my legs. We were going slow, the roads were rough, and we were stopping a lot = lots of shifting and discomfort. :/ We were also driving behind the other truck (with the windows open) and thus breathing in all the exhaust and fumes from both our cars.

(the 13 apostles)

But after a quick attitude check, I let the beauty of the Drakensberg mountains and the Sani Pass come over me. It was really quite breathtaking and amazing to see. I saw Southern Drakensberg and in the future, I would love to come back to see Central and Northern Drakensberg - apparently it gets even prettier!

(spot the 4x4 for some perspective...)