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Morgan and his admirers
Once we started shaking hands the riot erupted! We did indeed pay Simon in the morning and now had the task of finding our way back to the main road and transport. Although we arrived in the pitch black we were confident this wouldn't be too difficult a task. After about an hour we came to the realisation that we must have made a mistake somewhere, even though we were sure there were so far no deviations from the road we were on. We asked a few locals which way it was to Butha Buthe town before we met a lady who had barely enough English to tell us she was going to town and would guide us. We back tracked about half the distance we'd come before heading down a little alley way that we'd obviously missed the first time round. The fact that the mini bus made it this far was astonishing in itself as the road was of Leyland Brothers vintage. Along the right hand side of the alley for a few hundred metres were school grounds. So far in our short time in Lesotho we couldn't believe the amount of schools. They were everywhere and we began to wonder what happens to all the students
Pandemonium
Once I pulled the camera out the place went nuts! once they finish their education. From the moment we headed down this alley hundreds of kids ran to the fence to practice their hellos and basically stare at the whities. When we stopped to shake hands with a few of them all hell broke loose and before we knew it we were surrounded. The kids had all climbed over, under, through the fence and from end to end the alley was packed. Once the kids had had their turn of "hello, how are you, my name is..." they rounded to the back of the line and waited until we got to them again. It took us at least fifteen minutes to reach the end of the alleyway by which time all the teachers had joined the throng with sticks, trying to no avail to get the kids back into the grounds. When I pulled the little camera out the frenzy increased to fever pitch! Most Africans, especially the kids want to have their picture taken. Although we weren't in danger and didn't feel threatened we were starting to wonder what we had created. As was an un suspecting young herd boy who was to come around the corner on a
Danis fan club
I had to put the camera away. It was causing bedlam! cart being pulled by two young bulls. They entered the alleyway and when greeted by the absolute commotion and pandemonium we had created the bulls were spooked and took off at a million miles down the alley. Kids went running and screaming in every direction and the poor herd boy jumped off the cart. The bulls reached the end of the alley and ran head first into a fence. A couple of brave young school lads ran up and grabbed the bulls by the horns, literally, until the herd boy could prevent them going any further. The three of us took the initiative and got out of there giving the teachers a chance to round up the kids. Our poor elderly guide who was walking with us was now in shock and kept looking back at the scene, shaking her head in disbelief! All this and it was only 8.30 am. We hadn't even had breakfast yet! The next half hour from there to town proceeded without incident, even getting mobbed by mini bus touts was insignificant compared to the kids! We were herded to what was supposedly the fastest, safest and best looking mini bus in the fleet and
Running of the bulls
The herd boy is just about to bail! the relative calmness it provided gave us a chance to eat some fruit for brekky. We were also half comfortable and relieved that the drivers hero wasnt Ayrton Senna! We didnt even have to wait very long to fill up! We made it to Maputsoe soon enough and transferred to a maxi mini bus with individual seats - Luxury - for the journey to Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. The mountain scenery was again spectacular, the local music very loud and we even managed to learn a few greetings along the way. As is the way, the bus-taxi rank was also a market and this one was a hype of activity. Although we had re adjusted into city mode I went into a panic immediately as when I got off the bus I realised that I had been separated from my wallet, even though I'd only used it a few minutes earlier to pay for the bus ride. We looked everywhere. Under the bus, in the bus, around, on top, between seats etc but it was goooone! Just as the bus driver was shaking my hand saying bad luck whiteboy, my wallet fell out of my pants onto the ground
Butha Buthe Booty!
This is my kind of town! between us. Instead of putting it back in my zip pocket I'd somehow unzipped the leg of my cargo pants come shorts thinking this was my pocket! Needless to say I felt like a bit of a twat! I can still hear the bus driver laughing! Once recomposed courtesy of kfc and restocked from a bodgy little supermarket we found our respective buses and parted company. Morgan was heading south for some hiking in Semonkong and we were going about a third of that trip, but on a different bus. We decided that we'd meet again and that the goodbyes were only temporary. We hope to meet again as Morgan was a great travel mate and also a big bastard. No one was going to mess with us! Dani and I were heading to a historic trading post in Roma. Whilst waiting for the bus to fill we began chatting with an elderly man who wanted to know why we didn't just hire or buy a car to get around. He was so happy when we said that if we did that we'd miss the best parts of the country, the people, the mini bus adventures and ranks, markets, all the stuff we'd just cruise by in a car! We call this seeing the country at ground level. He was so happy he bought us chocolate, an obvious hit with Henderson! and also refused to let us pay. He even offered to drive us around town but remembered he was on the bus and apologised because his car was broken down. He showed us where to get off and we were immediately picked up by a group kids who just wanted to walk with us and hold hands and once again practice hellos etc. They knew without us saying where we were staying. We found the trading post and as soon as we were in the grounds knew that we'd stay for a few days to unwind! Our hosts were very accomodating and were the third and fourth generations of the family to run the business which also included another trading post which also had accomodation and a heap of other stores they leased to locals and taught how to run. Before we prepared our dinner we told them of our epic adventures of the previous few days and they instantly handed us cold beers and told us dinner was on the house! We met heaps of people that night including a tour guide escorting Latvian Tennis players who passed us twice at Sani Pass but couldn't stop and also two Saffas who were touring the country on their bikes Long Way Round style. We shared travel stories over several Maluti beers and they were so impressed with our mission they gave us their camping mattresses to use for the night! As per usual we took only half a second to admire the amazing stars, it was just too bloody cold! We put on every piece of clothing in our possesion, climbed into our bivvies and instantly fell head first into a well deserved deep sleep. If yesterday was the most taxing, yet rewarding of our travel days, this was easily second!
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