The Kingdom of Lesotho

Our 4×4 trip to the Kingdom of Lesotho was wonderful! We got to see the countryside of South Africa on our way and then the lovely Drakensburg mountains of Lesotho. The village that we visited was interesting, if very small,(Lesotho has a population of 2.8 million but only 30 of them live up here) and it gave us just a little bit of insight into one more way that people live. Seeing the many and varied lifestyles always makes me think deeply about life.

Just as soon as we left the city of Durban behind the land opened up to agriculture and small communities.

When we left South Africa (here looking back) we entered a no-man’s-land of about 8 miles before entering Lesotho. Lesotho customs stamped our passports which made some of our fellow travelers very happy.

The land was totally covered in green and in many places reminded us of off-roading in AZ. The road was rough!

Arriving at the village we saw a few shepherds with their sheep and the round stone homes with thatched roofs. It’s getting towards winter here and already the people are wearing the heavy, dark woven clothes that protect them from the cold and snow. The living here is certainly simple and hard.

The house above is about to get a new roof which will look like the one below inside of the home where we had the delicious bread baked in the dutch oven. I would have loved to have been able to talk with the women who hosted us and learn about their life up there. But, to tell the truth, the men didn’t look as friendly.

After our visit we bounced our way back down the road and home to the ship. We were worn out from our great adventure but I can’t imagine how worn out those people must be from just daily life up in that barren, harsh environment.