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Published: November 4th 2023
Me
Botsoela Falls Pony TrekDear All
Yay - amazing! After a wonderful first half of my South Africa journey 2023, the second half was about to begin. I had just completed my epic two-week, 4000km Road Trip from Cape Town to Johannesburg, and now I was ready for Part Two. This would involve basing myself in the fascinating city of Johannesburg, and taking three mini-trips out from there, before exploring Johannesburg and Pretoria themselves.
My first trip was five nights in the tiny little country of Lesotho, country number 89, and what an experience this was! While I feel South Africa can easily be divided into rich world and poor world, and while I had been pretty much travelling in its rich world and enjoying it thoroughly, Lesotho is very much Africa Africa, something that as an international tourist in South Africa just would not be wise to experience there given the ongoing racial issues there. Being white in many African areas of South Africa just simply isn't safe or wise, and given that it's not easy to know which African areas to avoid and which are fine, I erred very much on the side of caution and just pretty much stuck to
Botsoela Falls
Malealea, Lesotho the richer, upmarket parts. But here in Lesotho, I feel it's great to have more of an African experience, and I enjoyed it immensely. The country is safe, and seeing as it avoided South Africa's troubled history by simply being a separate country, I feel there is no underlying racial antagonism there and could experience the real Africa once more - of red earth, dark skies and village huts. And not having to watch my back all the time either, I was very much looking forward to my time there.
So I took a flight from Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport with the very professional Airlink airline, which connects South Africa with many other African destinations - I loved their slogan "feel the freedom of the African skies". It was a small 40-seater plane, but fortunately had a jet engine as I'm just not a big fan of flying in planes with propellers! I got talking to a nice English guy from Harrow on a World Bank business trip to Lesotho, who heard from his boss that the King of Lesotho would actually be on the same flight - and indeed he was! King Letsie III got VIP treatment
boarding and disembarking, while us plebs had to wait for him to do so both before taking off and after landing. But given the small size of the plane, there was no separate seating area and he sat in steerage with the rest of us. I tried to make eye contact and smile as I boarded and passed him, but he wasn't looking - I did manage it with two of his aides though, and we exchanged a knowing nod that I knew who the famous man was - it seemed not many others on the plane did.
The flight was a quick 47-minute up-and-downer, but the lovely stewardess was still able to find time to serve everyone complimentary drinks and snacks with a smile - what a fantastic airline! I was pretty much heading back in the same direction towards Bloemfontein, from whence I had driven the day before, but I believe as mentioned, I preferred to fly to Lesotho, and later Swaziland, rather than take my rental car, as I didn't want to face any additional hassle of taking the wheels across international borders. It was also nice travelling the old-fashioned way again, using good old public
Me and Village Chief Benedict
Malealea Village Tour, Lesotho transport. We arrived on time, at the tiny King Moshoeshoe I International Airport, as in fact the only flight of the airport's day. The terminal building was thus understandably tiny, and immigration etc. was a friendly and simple affair, though I was perturbed to see them still checking everyone's temperatures on arrival. Come on Lesotho, even America has moved past this now...!
My first three nights there were in a Basotho (adjective for Lesotho) cultural village literally in the delicious middle of nowhere, two hours south of the airport and capital city, called the Malealea Lodge. I was looking forward to learning more about Lesotho there. On my flight was a very friendly American travelling group of 13, who would feature a number of times during my time in Lesotho. My instructions upon landing were to call a Lodge worker called Bob, who would be able to find out where and when the next minibus to Malealea was leaving. However, my phone just did not receive any signal at all during my time in Lesotho, and there was no airport WiFi to speak of. I asked a guy at the airport information desk if I could please call Bob
from there, and he let me.
Bob told me there would be a (rare) direct minibus to Malealea leaving in 15 to 20 minutes from the main road, around three miles from the airport, and that I'd better make it quickly! There were no taxis to be seen, but having asked a guy at the rental car desk, a friendly local approached me and offered me a lift for 20 Rand (just less than £1!). Not only was I just so imopressed that no-one at this African international airport was trying to rip me off (rare indeed), I was also so pleased I'd make it in time for the minibus, as darkness was beginning to set in and I didn't fancy my chances negotiating the hectic minibus system of a new African country in the dark. While waiting at the main road, the American touring group passed by in two swish vehicles and waved.
After more than half-an-hour of waiting, and seriously sticking out there like a sore thumb while the local secondary school had just finished for the day and every passing student shouted "helloooo" to me, I approached a friendly local who was about to let
me use his phone again to call Bob, when the blessed bus arrived - yay! It was a two-hour journey, and it had been a while since I'd travelled by African minibus. These seem to exist throughout the continent, and are invariably filled with small seats which they pack to the gills, with a driver listening to loud music while speeding along past all the donkeys, chickens, people and all sorts of ramshackle vehicles, while another guy, usually a teenager, hangs out the side door shouting the destination to anyone and everyone. It is an African experience not-to-be-missed, though after a while they do get rather annoying. At this stage, I was just so excited to be in one again though, and the passengers were very friendly and seemed startled to see a white guy jump on the bus with them. It was so cool to be doing the African travelling again, I'd almost missed it!
The only problem was that I was bursting to go to the loo, and seriously felt each bump more intensely than I really wanted to. Within around ten miles of our destination, I thought we'd be there fairly soon, only to find that
the tarmacced road ended and the final leg of the journey was completed at an excruciatingly slow pace barely faster than a walk. The evening had well and truly set in by then too, so there was just nothing to see out of the window except miles and miles of darkness interspersed by the tiny flicker of a hut light in the distance. I had definitely arrived in another world from Johannesburg that very same morning! It took another forty minutes for this last bit, and needless to say the bumps were not getting any easier. On the way, my satnav told me we had passed over the wonderfully named "Gates of Paradise" mountain pass in the darkness, which I only really appreciated on my return to Maseru in the daylight a few days later for its stunning views all around.
At last we made it to the wonderful Malealea Lodge, which was to be my home for the next three nights. It was seriously an amazing place, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. The Malealea Lodge traces its roots back to 1905 when it was founded as a Trading Post by British colonialist Mervyn Bosworth Smith. The
small village of Malealea developed around the Post and after Mervyn died in 1950 the Trading Post continued until it was bought by a South African couple in 1986 and converted into the fantastic community lodge which exists to this day. Just a couple of years ago, the current South African owners took over the running of the place, and I was seriously impressed by the whole set up. It seems many of the 2500 people in the village of Malealea are interconnected in some way with the tourist Lodge, as it employs people directly from the village to run the 90-bed complex, and tourists' money flows into the community, helping it to have built infrastructure such as schools and clinics. The place was amazing, and not only helps the local community to thrive, it also gives tourists and visitors like myself a wonderful, unique and very authentic insight into rural Lesotho life.
After checking in to my fantastic, traditional African rondavel hut, I joined one of the current owners, a former tennis player, for dinner and a beer, who was a really nice guy. He commented that I looked and sounded just like Prince William, and I was
pretty happy with the compliment! After the beer and slap-up meal, I headed back to my cosy little rondavel in lovely little Lesotho, noting that the country has no loadshedding issues to speak of and therefore there was light and electricity all night - what a luxury! I went to sleep very excited to explore further the next day.
My first full day in Lesotho was just incredible! I felt that the Malealea Lodge was just so authentic and friendly, and was loving my time there. The food and the accommodation were lovely - basic but cosy and delicious, and both the hosts and the other guests were so nice to talk to. The previous night at dinner, I saw that the American group I flew to Lesotho with and who passed me on the side of the road were also staying at the Lodge for two nights, and it was wonderful to talk with and get to know them while there. There was also a rather loud Dutch tour group who it was best to avoid, and given the spaciousness of the grounds, it was quite easy to do this. It turned out that two of the Americans
Flight to Lesotho
Descending into Lesotho had done a Peace Corp stint there in Lesotho back in the 1990s - they had actually met and married there, and now were returning with their children, family and friends. They were fantastic people to talk with.
After breakfast on my first day, I did a five-mile guided hike with a local villager to some local bushman cave paintings, situated in the middle of a beautiful and lush valley with a Garden of Eden feel to it. While the cave paintings were not too wondrous, it was their setting which was just beautiful, with the valley also surrounded by vast swathes of fields, bush and mountains, some even with a bit of snow on them, in the distance - I had not seen the surrounding landscape the evening before upon arrival as it was pitch black, but now I was beginning to realise what a really special place this was!
After a short nap back at the Lodge, I then did a very interesting cultural village tour with the same guide through Malealea village, stopping off at a local brewery and sampling the rather creamy local brew. We also visited a rather naff, if I must say,
"Village Museum", which had a few dusty artefacts, although just outside was a very interesting low-roofed hut used as a "Coming of Age" dormitory for local village boys as they prepared for their initiation ceremony. The highlight of the village tour was very much a visit to the village chief called Benedict, who was a pleasure to speak with. I also enjoyed passing by lots of very friendly locals and villagers. It is customary in Lesotho to greet everyone you pass, and people can apparently become quite offended if you don't. Being from Sheffield, this suited me fine! It was also very much as they say, that travelling to Lesotho is almost like travelling back in time - it's a mostly rural country, where the locals mostly ride on horseback, wearing blankets and balaclavas. My guide sold me a local balaclava, which I bought as a souvenir only with no intention of ever wearing it back home for fear of being arrested! I thought it a very cool souvenir!
In the evening, the local village choir came to the Lodge to sing some wonderful songs for us guests, with very African melodies, vocals and dances, which was followed by
Coming out to greet the King!
King Moshoeshoe I International Airport a performance by a local band called "Sotho Sound Bush Technology", whose amazing array of instruments were made from various bits of rubbish including big plastic paint pots and scrap metal poles. I got talking to one of the band members afterwards, who told me they had actually been to Sheffield and had performed for the Sheffield Hallam University there! They even sang the song that they had composed for me, called "Sheffield Hallam University", whose lyrics as I recorded them were "today, today, today is a special day; we sing together; Sheffield Hallam, Hallam, Hallam, University; we walk together, we study together, we learn from each other!" I was really quite moved and emotional about this to be honest! I shared a couple of drinks of the local South African brew called Amarula with one of the American tour group guys, and their re-visiting of Lesotho after having worked there previously inspired me to do something similar in my life, to re-visit my own old stomping grounds of Singapore and Paraguay. I think I will leave Russia for the time being though... It was a wonderful end to a wonderful first day in Lesotho!
I had decided to
The King being whisked away
King Moshoeshoe I International Airport stay in Malealea for three nights, rather than my usual two, partly to immerse myself in Lesotho, and also partly to slow down a bit after my rapid-fire Road Trip. My second full day there was also lovely! I did a wonderful Basotho pony trek to a nearby waterfall, the Botsoela Falls, with a different guide this time. This was only my third experience in the saddle, after Mongolia in 2002 and Iceland just last year, but I did feel a bit more confident with it. This was fortunate, as the trek was not easy going! The Basotho pony in this country is famous for helping the locals negotiate and navigate its mountainous and rugged terrain, often completely inaccessible with four wheels. So I thought, when in Rome, I'd give it a go! The way to the waterfall was about half flat terrain, with the other half going either steeply up or steeply down. There was one very steep bit just full of big stones, and I was glad that the horse didn't seem as fazed by them as I was, and that he didn't fall, although he did stumble once which was a bit unnerving! It was a four-hour
Flight to Lesotho
Arrival in Lesotho round trip to the Falls and back, and boy was I saddle-sore for the rest of the day! The Falls were lovely and it felt a great achievement to have got there, but mostly it was the journey and being on horseback in Lesotho that was the fun bit!
Back at the Lodge, I said farewell to the lovely American group who were continuing on their journey, without realising I'd actually bump into them again later, while I had one more night in the place. The afternoon was completely free, and I really appreciated and enjoyed just chilling. I found a hammock in the sun on the Lodge's very extensive grounds, which also include a man-sized maze made entirely of glass bottles, and shot the breeze for most of the afternoon with a cup of tea, my Lonely Planet, and the Lodge's very friendly, and rather scruffy, dog to keep me company! It was just bliss!
The next day I was hitting the rough road again (hopefully not literally!), to journey on to Lesotho's capital city of Maseru, where I was to base myself for my final two nights in this lovely little country.
So until my
Main Building
Malealea Lodge, Lesotho next one, which I'm sure will relate my further adventures from there, thanks for reading, and all the best until the next time!
Alex 😊
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silvernomads
Paul & Sheila Williams
Wonderful
Hi Alex - loved reading your latest blog brought back so many happy memories of our time at Malealea, a beautiful place - ten years ago now but we still have kind thoughts of all the wonderful people we met there and as you mentioned the scenery, peace and tranquility was awesome - happy travel to you - Best regards Sheila