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Once we found our bus in the madness, we were on our way for a 3 hour drive to Lesotho (pronounced le-soo-too). Our friends from Mozambique, Jennie and Sean, had warned us about the hassle of public transport in Lesotho, so we were ready for it! As it turned out, our journey was seamless, with plenty of help along the way: locals and minivan passengers seemed to want to take care of us and would show us the way from leg to leg of the journey. After stocking up with groceries in a tiny village before our final leg to Malealea Lodge, we had the icing on the cake: we joined minivan driver Sefako 'Bernard' in his groovy mini-bus taxi with cool house tunes pumping out of the eight after-market ceiling speakers, as we passed over the Gates of Paradise Pass!
Lesotho is a small, mountainous country completely surrounded by South Africa, and is home to the Basotho people. They have managed to keep their culture separate from the troubles of South Africa in the recent century, and are a friendly and kind nation. They are usually cloaked in a Basotho blanket, with various patterns for status symbols, and sometimes clad in a straw style hat. The country itself is the only country in the world where the entire nation is above 1000m elevation, earning it's name as the 'Kingdom in the Sky'. We thought our whole experience there was fantastic.
We've been hitting it pretty lucky lately, with places to stay, and Malealea was no different. Tina and Allan were friends with the brother of Michael, who ran beautiful Malealea Lodge. He was very generous, not allowing us to stay in our tent, but giving us one of the best view rooms for the same price as a tent site!! WOW….. when you are traveling for a long time, these bonuses really make all difference!!
Initially, we wandered around the village to get an idea of the place, and met some of the local people. All smiles and nice greetings, and some good interaction, especially with the kids.
We love to hike and get out in the mountains, so after waking up to a wonderful view of the mountains, we found a guide named 'Lucky', and he took us on a 6 hour walk to the Botsoela waterfall, and then to some San bushman paintings. The different colour tilled fields, with mountains behind made for some spectacular scenery. And strolling through various villages of round huts called rondavels was quite interesting. Lucky was a happy-go-lucky character really - singing along as he walked. He was friendly and a nice companion. He had been guiding in the area for about 7 years, since he was 17, and was knowledgeable about the paintings in the cliff/cave area! We enjoyed our time with Lucky, so we asked him to guide us on an overnight hike the following day.
We stocked up with some groceries, and bought a lunch of 'Fat' cakes (basically donut balls) and delicious chips, then set out on a 18km hike to Ribaneng waterfall. It was quite the arduous hike, but maybe because we are out of shape. Most people do the trip as a pony trek, but we decided to save the money, and get some exercise. It was a stunning day for walking, and the scenery again didn't disappoint. It was really pleasant walking through the fields and villages, with smiling faces greeting us with 'Dumela'. Lovely interaction with all the people, and playing with all the kids in the villages that came running out to see us. It never tires taking photos/videos of the kids and watching their reactions to seeing themselves on screen - genuine awe and joy!! The walk was up and down, but heading towards the snow-capped mountains in the distance.
After lunch, we came over a hill and saw flames on a hillside. Lucky and I dropped our packs and sprinted towards the fire. Turns out a young boy of 3 or 4 years old had apparently tried to light a small fire to cook some maize, but a spark flew out into the grasses and he didn't know what to do. He was by himself, and lucky that we came over at that time because the fire would have spread quick in the dry grass. Lucky and I managed to beat out the fire with blankets, and saved the small boy from getting in real trouble, not to mention the damage the fire could have caused!!!
We arrived in a tiny village near Ribaneng waterfall, and were shown to our accommodation for the night - a nice rondavel on the mountain slopes, underneath the snowy peaks! We were joined by a French couple Fabrice and Severine, who had taken the pony's there - a good choice. We were too exhausted to walk all the way to the waterfall, but as we sat enjoying the view, the local kids started getting curious and coming to see us. We had a wonderful time with them all, swinging them around, giving them pen and paper to draw, tickling them, and letting them try on my sunglasses. Lots of laughs and giggles.
We had a couple of mattresses to sleep on, and were quite comfortable and warm. All was going well until about 3 AM when a chorus of donkeys 'eeyore-ing', dogs barking, goats bleating, roosters cock-a-doodle-doing. It was a crazy amount of noise, and bordering on ridiculous - we just had to laugh!! Unfortunately, we were awake for most of the night after!!
It was a cool, crisp morning in the village, with smoke pumping out of the doors of all the rondavels. We hit the trail early for the 18km back, but a slightly different route. More wonderful scenery, but we could now see our destination in the distance. When we arrived back at Malealea Lodge, we were so glad to have our lovely room to chill out in and near. It was a tiring walk!
That night, instead of cooking, we went out for dinner at a local villager's house. He and his sisters had cooked us a nice traditional meal of pap and chicken, with a spinach-type veggie. It was nice seeing the local way of life, and meeting Teboho his family.
We were on our way the next morning, hitching a ride with Fabrice and Severine. But not before I found Sefako, and attempted to exchange some music with him. We had a good laugh, and picked up some new tunes.
Fabrice and Severine dropped us off in our next destination - Morija. Then, a short walk up the hill, to an old English style stone country house called Morija Guest House with a perch above the town and valley below. Muesli the dog, accompanied us on a walk up the hill to find the dinosaur footprints preserved in the rocks high above the town. Then, a quick visit to the local museum and walk to town, where little local boy PhoPhi found us and tagged along for our walk. We shared Coke, chips, fat cakes and even some fruit with him, and had a laugh with the cooks and staff of the little shop.
It was with disappointment to leave, we were on our way back to South Africa. It was a short journey to Lesotho, but one we will remember fondly. And it finished the same way it started, with a seamless journey, and lots of help from the friendly locals. *Stub
Michelle will remember:
- the lady in Bloem who helped us find the bus, and then recognized us five hours later in Maseru
-helping a lady with her big bags up the stairs in Bloem and how she (seemed to) brag to her friends that the two white people had helped her with her heavy bags
-practicing my limited Sesotho language on the local villagers and actually managing to pull off a flowing 'how are you' conversation
-all the special handshakes and genuine smiles from the locals that she tried to engage with her limited language skills
-the two young children who just wanted to hold her hand (and wouldn't let go!) at one local village
-the kids' reaction to watching themselves on video replay on the camera, and then waving at themselves on the screen
-Our guide, Lucky, singing Ladysmith Black Mambazo-style while walking through the mountains
- the jangling of the cow and sheep bells as we passed herds and shepherds hiking to Ribaneng
Martin will remember:
- The outrageous chorus of donkeys, dogs, roosters etc at 3AM at Ribaneng Village
- Bernard's groovy music in the minivan
- locals laughing at my Sesotho language attempts
- the local blankets for outerwear
- Muesli the dog
- good chips with the fat cakes
- putting out the fire before it got out of control
 |
| Terraces and fields around Malealea |
 |
| Village in front of Ribaneng Waterfall |
We've been hitting it pretty lucky lately, with places to stay, and Malealea was no different. Tina and Allan were friends with the brother of Michael, who ran beautiful Malealea Lodge. He was very generous, not allowing us to stay in our tent, but giving us one of the best view rooms for the same price as a tent site!! WOW….. when you are traveling for a long time, these bonuses really make all difference!!
Initially, we wandered around the village to get an idea of the place, and met some of the local people. All smiles and nice greetings, and some good interaction, especially with the kids.
 |
| Our Rondavel Accomodation in Ribaneng Village |
We stocked up with some groceries, and bought a lunch of 'Fat' cakes (basically donut balls) and delicious chips, then set out on a 18km hike to Ribaneng waterfall. It was quite the arduous hike, but maybe because we are out of shape. Most people do the trip as a pony trek, but we decided to save the money, and get some exercise. It was a stunning day for walking, and the scenery again didn't disappoint. It was really pleasant walking through the fields and villages, with smiling faces greeting us with 'Dumela'. Lovely interaction with all the people, and playing with all the kids in the villages that came running out to see us. It never tires taking photos/videos of the kids and watching their reactions to seeing themselves on screen - genuine awe and joy!! The walk was up and down, but heading towards the snow-capped mountains in the distance.
 |
| The view from our Rondavel in Ribaneng Village |
 |
| Martin swinging the kids in Ribaneng Village |
We had a couple of mattresses to sleep on, and were quite comfortable and warm. All was going well until about 3 AM when a chorus of donkeys 'eeyore-ing', dogs barking, goats bleating, roosters cock-a-doodle-doing. It was a crazy amount of noise, and bordering on ridiculous - we just had to laugh!! Unfortunately, we were awake for most of the night after!!
 |
| Village in Ribaneng Valley |
That night, instead of cooking, we went out for dinner at a local villager's house. He and his sisters had cooked us a nice traditional meal of pap and chicken, with a spinach-type veggie. It was nice seeing the local way of life, and meeting Teboho his family.
We were on our way the next morning, hitching a ride with Fabrice and Severine. But not before I found Sefako, and attempted to exchange some music with him. We had a good laugh, and picked up some new tunes.
 |
| Dinosaur Footprints above Morija |
It was with disappointment to leave, we were on our way back to South Africa. It was a short journey to Lesotho, but one we will remember fondly. And it finished the same way it started, with a seamless journey, and lots of help from the friendly locals. *Stub
Michelle will remember:
 |
| They wanna hold my hand!! |
-helping a lady with her big bags up the stairs in Bloem and how she (seemed to) brag to her friends that the two white people had helped her with her heavy bags
-practicing my limited Sesotho language on the local villagers and actually managing to pull off a flowing 'how are you' conversation
-all the special handshakes and genuine smiles from the locals that she tried to engage with her limited language skills
-the two young children who just wanted to hold her hand (and wouldn't let go!) at one local village
-the kids' reaction to watching themselves on video replay on the camera, and then waving at themselves on the screen
-Our guide, Lucky, singing Ladysmith Black Mambazo-style while walking through the mountains
- the jangling of the cow and sheep bells as we passed herds and shepherds hiking to Ribaneng
Martin will remember:
- The outrageous chorus of donkeys, dogs, roosters etc at 3AM at Ribaneng Village
- Bernard's groovy music in the minivan
- locals laughing at my Sesotho language attempts
- the local blankets for outerwear
- Muesli the dog
- good chips with the fat cakes
- putting out the fire before it got out of control
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