Blogs from Lesotho, Africa - page 4

The Anstey Beach backpacker hostel in Durban is mainly for surfers and is far from the city centre so there is not much to do nearby except surf, so I booked myself on a tour to the Sani Pass and Lesotho (pronounced Lesutu). I was picked up around 10am and was driven to a meeting point where I was joined by two Brazilians called Luiz and Luiz, we then headed to Underberg where we joined a German couple, bought some takeaway for lunch then transferred to a four wheel drive vehicle. We drove for perhaps twenty minutes spotting a large troop of baboons cavorting around on a golf course before arriving at the South African border post. After taking care of formalities we began the steep climb up through the mountains to the Sani Pass, it ... read more

Yesterday was Joke's birthday so we'd all retired to the bar last night, listening to African music and celebrating her 21st birthday (again). This morning I was woken at 07h30 by the sounds of ululation coming from the village followed by the voices of children singing. It was very magical to wake up to what is imagined to be traditional African sounds. After washing and taking breakfast, we looked at the weather and, donning warm jackets and waterproofs, waited for our ponies to arrive for today was intended to be a long walk into the Lesotho mountains with a Basotho guide.. Paul (not his real name?) sauntered down the path at the relaxed pace of the Basotho, blanket wrapped about him and hat sitting jauntily on his head. In his arms, he carried two waterproof bags ... read more

RECAP: A team of 12 Tacoma/Pierce County folks journeyed to Lesotho in February 2010 representing the Global Neighbor Project. To maximize resources, the Global Neighbor Project joined with World Vision’s Sekameng Area Development Project in Lesotho. This comprises 21 villages with a population of 4900. An Area Development Project is a community-based approach to sustainable solutions helping one child and one community at a time with:Clean Water, Food, Education, Micro- enterprise ,Caregiver supplies, Health Care and community development. The teams that visited in 2006 & 2008 saw water systems under construction, and seeds being planted in community gardens. They met community members who were being trained as volunteer caregivers to help their neighbors suffering with HIV/AIDS. The Global Neighbor Project priority is to help the orphaned children struggling to survive in their... read more

VISITING THE KING -- We breakfast on scrambled eggs, bread, pork and beans and English style sausage (bland hot dogs) and then load up in our caravan of four Toyota Crew Cab 4X4s and one Land Rover with roof rack to make the 40-minute drive to Maseru. We arrange a stop at the new mall for 30 minutes to pick up some necessities like batteries, sunscreen and espresso drinks (instant coffee or tea is served at the lodge; I share Starbucks VIA instant coffee packs with the group). Rick decides to invest $30US in a desk fan for our room, which he knows will make a nice gift for the World Vision office staff when we depart. He decides that will make the room more pleasant with some air movement. After the brief visit to the ... read more

For this section of our travels we are leaving the coast and heading into the centre of South Africa to the mountain kingdom of Lesotho and the roof of Africa. We start our trip in the heart of Zululand in a town called Eshowe. The weather is pretty bad and it’s raining hard, to hard for the roof tent so we book into Zululand backpackers and treat ourselves to a KFC. Next day we are booked on a cultural tour into Zululand and our guide arrives to take us to his village, he is 75 years old and a bit mental to say the least. Zululand is huge area of South Africa and is made up of rolling green hills and streams it’s very picturesque with no electricity or running water and very rural. Although a ... read more