www.theblisspages.com - travel: Lesotho
www.theblisspages.com - travel: LesothoLesotho is a land-locked country, and the only country to lie totally within another - South Africa. As apartheid was still in force during my visit to Lesotho, I felt hostile during my questioning by South African immigration, but was finally allowed on board the plane for the short flight to Maseru.
The whole country is between 1,388 and 3,482 metres above sea level and it is the only country in the world to have all its territory located at more than 1,000 metres above sea level. Sometimes known as the Roof of Africa or the Switzerland of Africa, more than 75 percent of Lesotho is mountainous, with only 25 percent considered lowland. People from Lesotho are called Mosotho (plural Basotho).
The population is just over two million and it felt very much in thrall to South Africa when I was there, although I gather it is very different now, nearly twenty years later.
Growing up during apartheid, I had always boycotted South African wine, but as all the available food was imported from there, it seemed a nonsense not to drink the wine. It was very good and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was difficult to stick to my principles on my return to England, but lasted until the end of apartheid. I know it wasn't much, but that, and my involvement in politics (which continues to this day) were all I could do.
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Maseru, the capital, was quiet and I felt safe there. Cairo Road is the main thoroughfare, and for many years it was the only paved road. It says a lot about the pace and nature of the city. There weren't many historical sites to visit, and we didn't find a lot of cultural things to do, but it was friendly and relaxing.
I didn't feel so safe, however, when I tested the wiring within the office, where I was due to install some computers. There was 100 volts difference between the mains earth correction between different rooms. We got this rectified, and then asked someone to drill a hole between two offices so we could connect some computers. A workman staggered into the office with a huge hammer drill - the bit was nearly as long as I was. He drilled for two days as the walls were over four feet thick! Everyone in the office was patient, despite the incredible noise and all the dust.
One the computers were physically connected, we went to install the software. Disaster!
Our master diskettes were corrupted, so we were stymied until replacements could be couriered from England.
For the first day or so, there were other tasks to do and some limited training was possible, but eventually we ran out of work.
There
was a small tourist shop near my office, where I bought a few souvenirs. It
was called the Basotho Hat, and I just found out that it was burnt out in riots
in 1998.
They were hoping to reconstruct it, and I have just been told by Rethabile Masilo in an interesting email that it has, indeed, been rebuilt.
He also mentioned a game, Morabaraba, which he wondered if I'd played. Morabaraba is a Sesotho boardgame played by shepherds to while away the long hours. They carve it out of flat rock and use coloured pebbles for "cows". Unfortunately I haven't come across it, but you can find more information at the city of Johannesburg website.
We
also visited a local market.
The diskettes still hadn't arrived so they kindly lent us the office Land-Rover,
and we spent a day driving into the mountains.
We passed this hut at the start of our drive - I think we were still in Maseru
at this time.
We saw some eroded gullies as we proceeded and the erosion continued on a larger
scale as we drove.
Soon the views got more interesting as we got further into the mountains, and we
had to go into four-wheel drive a couple of times. My passenger was getting
a little nervous by then as the area was a little remote and my map-reading
skills date back to the Boy Scouts.
Eventually it was time to turn back, so we reluctantly turned west towards Maseru and work.
This is a view of Bushman's Pass in the winter. Luckily we visited during the summer,
and the climate was very pleasant during our visit.
The next morning, the diskettes arrived, so the real work of the trip could start.
After installing the computers, thankfully with no more problems, we trained all the local staff, who were very helpful and friendly.
We were very relieved that after all the traumas of erratic voltages and corrupted diskettes, we managed to leave the office with a functioning computer system and happy (and no doubt relieved) staff.
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: © Mike Bliss 2008