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Published: November 11th 2023
Maletsunyane Falls
Semonkong, LesothoDear All
On a Thursday morning in the middle of August, I moved on from the Malealea Lodge, and felt it was about time for it. The place was truly amazing, and although I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, I felt three nights was enough and was happy to wake up early and take the last morning minibus out of town at 8am - although even that was still a bit early for me though, lol! The bumpy ten-mile stretch of road out of town didn't seem half so bad in the daylight, and I was well-distracted by the awesome views, particularly as we passed through the 2003m "Gates of Paradise" mountain pass with stunning views all around. This is one of numerous mountain passes throughout the country, and although it has a great name, it just cannot beat the fantastically-named 2281m "God Help Me Pass" near the Mohale Dam east of Maseru, which I unfortunately (or fortunately?!) didn't get to travel along. I didn't get to take any photos here though as I was in the bumpy minibus with no stopping opportunities. This minibus was heading south to the town of Mafeteng as it reached the main road, so
Lesotho Landscape
Road to Semonkong I had to change minibuses at a place called Motsekuoa. For both journeys, I managed to nab the best seat possible on an African minibus - the one in the front next to the driver! Great for good views and not being so cramped up with other passengers in the back, plus their luggage. Not so great if the radio is playing full blast though...! Still, I prefer loud music to cramped conditions, and was happy with the views.
I arrived around two hours later in Lesotho's bustling capital of Maseru, filled with noise, cars, people, hustle and bustle. Although at just over 300,000 inhabitants, Maseru is tiny by African capital standards, the few central roads still felt hectic and chaotic, and a place to keep your hands in your pockets and your wits about you. From the centre of town, it was a short 15-minute walk to my accommodation, where I checked into a really professional and peaceful hotel which supports a local NGO providing football training for children, called "Kick4Life". Both of my two accommodations in Lesotho have thus been community-oriented, and it felt nice not only to enjoy Lesotho, but to also contribute to it. There
Lesotho Village
Road to Semonkong was also a fantastic attached restaurant, with super prices and amazing food, which I took full advantage of for my breakfasts and dinners.
After checking in, I pretty much headed straight to the very chaotic minibus station back in town, via a KFC along the way for a lovely fried chicken and chips lunch. Maseru's minibus station was as busy and sprawling as any African minibus station, or rather "gathering point", but I was relieved that there was no hustle here, and nobody grabbing your arm and trying to get you take their minibus, wherever it was going. I was assisted very helpfully by a number of local people to find the correct minibus, with no expectation on their part for remuneration, although I did give a coin to one of them as it felt right.
I was heading to a place called the Thaba-Bosiu Cultural Village, birthplace of the Kingdom of Lesotho dating back to the 19th century, and seemingly not only the nation's historical heart, but its spiritual one too. While only 16 miles away, it took one-and-a-half hours to get there! This was on top of spending around thirty minutes waiting for the minibus to
fill up and go. The traffic leaving Maseru was just terrible, and the minibus stopped and started again so many times, sometimes to pick up and drop off passengers, sometimes just to have a chat with the driver's friends. It was only about 45 minutes coming back again later though, as the driver seemingly just wanted to get home again rather than trying to pick up every single person we passed.
Thaba-Bosiu was a good place to visit, and it was clear that the country made an effort to make it a visited hotspot, with a museum, statue, huge layout and gardens, as well as a recreated 19th century Basotho village. The Cultural Village that one visits lies at the base of the actual Thaba-Bosiu plateau itself, more on that below. For me it was just being in that special place for Lesotho that felt important, and learning how respected and respect-worthy King Moshoeshoe I (1786 - 1870) is. Without him, there would be no Lesotho, and the country would surely be tied up in South Africa, bearing the same tumultuous history and angry present.
King Moshoeshoe I first led his people to a very defendable rocky plateau
there, the very same Thaba-Bosiu, to escape the chaos of 19th century southern African turmoil. This was caused by feuding between the Boers and the Brits, the violent rise and expansion of the Zulu kingdom, and the subsequent displacement, famine and death this caused throughout the region, known as the "mfecane", a Zulu word meaning "crushing". In the local Sesotho language of Lesotho, this time is instead known as the "difaqane", which in fact means "forced migration". Not only did Moshoeshoe I protect his people by choosing this highly defendable and farmable rocky plateau to locate them, he also carefully and expertly negotiated directly with the British Parliament, bypassing the nearby colonial power base of Natal. This ensured that when South Africa declared independence in 1910, his tiny mountain enclave would remain a British protectorate free from this South African declaration, until Lesotho itself declared its own independence from Britain in 1966. Thus, it avoided the dire complications of South African Apartheid, and the subsequent and current resentment that exists in the latter country. Although comparatively much poorer than its completely surrounding neighbour, Lesotho seems very proud, and rightly so, of its nation and recent history. It is indeed as
My Accommodation
Kick4Life Centre, Maseru I believe I mentioned in my last blog, a world apart from South Africa, and I learned and appreciated all of this much more from my visit to Thaba-Bosiu.
I would just like to mention an additional story of interest and note that I picked up at the museum in Thaba-Bosiu, that a contemporaneous European religious man observed of King Moshoeshoe I, which helped to define him as a leader of high character and worthy of admiration in the country. That in his leading of his people through the surrounding lands and on to this mountain plateau in the Drakensberg foothills, they ended up travelling through cannibal country - one of the direst consequences of the mfecane was that some tribes resorted to cannibalism in order to survive. A number of older people, women and children who were bringing up the rear of his entourage succumbed to the fate of the cannibals, including the King's own grandfather, called Peete. Upon learning of this, King Moshoeshoe I chose to forgive the cannibals and give them normal food, as he believed that instead of being able to have a regular grave at which to honour his grandfather, the sepulchre was in
My Accommodation
Kick4Life Centre, Maseru fact the cannibals themselves (!), and thus they should be treated with respect. Such an act of mercy apparently changed the cannibals into normal food-eating people, and they became a part of the King's newly founded nation up there in the Drakensberg foothills. I found this story particularly fascinating and intriguing.
After my visit, I returned to my lovely hotel in Maseru, and enjoyed my first of four wonderful meals at its excellent and very professional restaurant.
My full day based in Maseru was just amazing, and I was so glad that I did it! Whilst I was glad to have stayed in Maseru as I always like to stay in a country's capital city, there was really not that much to see or do there. There is no National Museum to speak of, aside from the nearby Thaba-Bosiu Cultural Village, and the Royal Palace where the current King Letsie III lives is apparently merely a stucco-block US-style suburban house. I had seen the King a few days before on my flight over from Johannesburg anyway! So I looked into doing a day trip to Lesotho's most famous and spectacular natural attraction, the spectacular 200-metre Maletsunyane Falls, deep
in the heart of Lesotho's mountainous interior. I had initially planned to take a shared minibus there and back again, arranging a 4x4 truck to take me on to the Falls from the nearest settlement of Semonkong. After my one-and-a-half-hour journey the day before to travel the 14-mile journey to Thaba-Bosiu, I thought twice however about being cramped up in an endlessly stopping and starting minibus for potentially eight hours in one day on the 70-mile journey there and back again. I thus cancelled the 4x4 arrangement that I'd made, with the owner of the Semonkong Lodge that I had made it with being very understanding and gracious of my cancellation, and instead splashed out on a private transfer there and back, to spend two hours at the Falls, arranged through my hotel reception. This still worked out at a good price in terms of western standards, and I was so happy I booked it and didn't pass up on the chance to see Lesotho's top tourist attraction. As a Travel Blogger buddy once told me (thanks Ake!), you rarely remember the money forked out for a travel experience, just the experience itself. And it was so worth it!
My taxi driver was called Laurent, and he was a friendly and quiet guy, which I appreciated. One of the worst things about such a booking could be the potentially endless conversation with a chatty driver-guide, but this happily wasn't the case with Laurent. The drive there and back was truly spectacular, and allowed me the chance to see Lesotho for what the vast majority of the country is famous for: rugged mountains, high plateaus and spectacular landscapes, interspersed with cattle drivers, farmers and horsemen wearing blankets, balaclavas and conical hats. I loved the drive, and each way only took two-and-a-half hours, including photo stops as and when, which a shared minibus ride certainly wouldn't have allowed.
The last five miles from the main road to the Maletsunyane Falls themselves were seriously bumpy, and we at one point forded a little stream, but it was all very much worth it. I spent a very happy two hours there, to include a wonderful hike to a great viewpoint and back, contemplating the great spectacle of the thundering waterfall and the incredible gorge it has carved out there over the years. The nearby town of Semonkong incidentally means "site of smoke",
in reference to this amazing waterfall. It was also very quiet in terms of visitors, though I did meet with a friendly French family who were staying in the same Maseru accommodation as me, as well as another super-friendly family from Wigan in the UK, who were on their way driving to South Africa's Wild Coast, through Lesotho.
The site had a huge, recently-built tourist building there, called the Maletsunyane Information Centre, completely empty apart from a small and very professional restaurant. It all felt rather incongruous, having this amazing tourist sight and vast tourism complex, but no tourists, though apparently it does get busy in the summer time. I was of course happy to have most of the place to myself, along with a few balaclava- and blanket-clad locals herding their animals. It was very atmospheric, and very Lesotho.
I enjoyed a delicious, and very spicy, chicken curry gourmet meal there for the bargain price of £4.50. Such a fine-dining meal back in the UK would have set me back at least £20. It was delicious, and with my belly full and my travel thirst quenched, we headed back to Maseru. Upon my request, the driver very
kindly stopped off for 20 minutes in a small town called Roma on the way back, home to the National University of Lesotho. I took a few photos and enjoyed a very pleasant wander there around its chilled tree-lined campus, arriving back in my accommodation in Maseru in the late afternoon. This was just in time for a nice afternoon tea and a rest, before another slap-up meal in the onsite restaurant. Ah, the traveller's life is very much for me!
The following day I flew back to Johannesburg, and although there was no King on board this time, I did share the plane with the Lesotho Minister of Finance! She also enjoyed the same VIP-treatment as the King earlier, being picked up in a separate car in Johannesburg before the rest of us plebs were allowed to disembark. I also bumped into the very friendly American travelling group again that I had met back in Malealea on the same flight back, who had spent an enjoyable couple of days at the Morija Guest House while I had been in Maseru. After my wonderful five-day mini-trip to the beautiful country of Lesotho, I immediately noticed South Africa's developed-ness again
- the variety of upmarket shops and services at the airport, and the First World nature of its road system, with motorways, concrete flyovers and complex intersections. South Africa is by far the most developed African country I've been to. I returned to my Lodge-base again to be reunited with the rest of my luggage and repack the small pack I was taking with me on these small forays, and was really excited to explore Swaziland the next day for another similar five-day mini-trip.
Of course, I plan to write up about my adventures in Swaziland in my next one. So until then, thanks for reading, and all the best for now!
Alex
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
"The Travelers Life is very much for me!" Alex Waring
The above may become one of those famous travel quotes everyone post on their FB page. It says it all. I'm gad you agree with Are as he is a wise world traveler. I look forward to meeting him someday. Hobnobbing with the Minister of Finance now.... your timing is very good. I'm glad you read into your American friends again. I"m glad you explored a lesser known and appreciated South African country. Contrast is always a good thing.