Some are well worn while others not so much. We broke camp in Rhodes, South Africa and headed north to the nearest border crossing, Tele Bridge. The road from Rhodes to Tele bridge is a mountain pass of gravel/dirt and it took 3+ hours to cover the 60 mile trek. The boarder crossing was uneventful outside of the guards inquiry on Barack Obama (Do we know him? Where does he live?).Once across the boarder we hopped on a paved road, the first in 2 days of driving, and headed north. Lesotho is a small country, surrounded entirely by South Africa. The guide
book pointed out that 45% of the country is unemployed, 25% is malnourished and 30%+ are living with HIV/AIDS. Add some political instability to the mix and the country has struggled as of late. We found Lesotho to be a beautiful and interesting country, amazing mountain scenery with friendly, smiling people. We stayed at the Malealea Lodge, in Malealea, known for its pony trekking and out of the way solitude. Lesotho also has amazing hiking, and we thought it would be a good place to fit in a day long trek. The lodge recommends that you hire a guide to do the 6 hour gorge hike we decided on, both to employ the local people and also to keep the guests safe as the hike is rather confusing and strenuous. We opted out of this, thinking it would be nice to have some solitude in such a beautiful location. Hiring a guide might have been a good idea. We spent the next 6 hours clamoring over slippery rocks, jumping down 6 foot waterfalls and climbing up sides of cliffs. At the end of the day we probable spent a good 2+ hours of the 6 hour hike lost, but we really enjoyed ourselves and ended up tipping a guide along the way for some well needed directions. The end of the hike lead us through some of the local villages where the kids came running out to greet us with alphabet songs and calls for “sweets”. Lesotho was an excellent experience. The lodge where we camped was pe
rched on the top of a mountain, where we woke every morning with calls from the many birds and other animals that flowed into and out of the lodge grounds. Each evening we were treated to the local village choir singing native songs as well as a small band of locals playing home made instruments. The nights were quiet and spent sipping South African wine and the local Lesotho beers in the lodge pub. As with many of the destinations we have visited thus far in southern Africa, the crowds are smaller than expected for this time of year and most point out the culprit as the slumping global economy. It is no doubt an interesting time to be traveling the world.
rched on the top of a mountain, where we woke every morning with calls from the many birds and other animals that flowed into and out of the lodge grounds. Each evening we were treated to the local village choir singing native songs as well as a small band of locals playing home made instruments. The nights were quiet and spent sipping South African wine and the local Lesotho beers in the lodge pub. As with many of the destinations we have visited thus far in southern Africa, the crowds are smaller than expected for this time of year and most point out the culprit as the slumping global economy. It is no doubt an interesting time to be traveling the world. 
1 comment:
I've been traveling myself. I went all the way to Columbus, OH two weekends ago. I ate a burger that weighed about 10 lbs. Unfortunately, we didn't take a picture of it, but I found one on their website...hence the girl with the burger instead of me. The second pic is the plate when I was finished. According to our waiter, only 7 people have ever finished everything on the plate. Well, make that 8 now.
-Lunchbox
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