Today was a definite eye-popper. After a quick brekkie in the hotel, we all piled into 4x4 jeeps for a journey into Lesotho (pronounced Li-soo-too). As you can see on the map, Lesotho is a small country completely enclosed into South Africa. It's population is 2.2 million people, as historically their original tribal people avoided the British and Dutch settlers. Much like the U.S. and their natives, the original settlers in South Africa pushed the native tribes (Zulu and Xhosa) into the interior, in some cases all but squashing their lives and culture. Lesotho, due to it's mountainous terrain and strong tribal leaders, seems to have avoided this. Apparently there are areas of Lesotho that are quite civilized, industrialized, and have things such as electricity and running water. The area we encountered, was very much tribal and incredibly poor.
We traveled for about 2 hours each way along perhaps the windiest, rockiest, most brutal dirt road I've seen in my life: The Sani Pass. Only heavy-duty 4x4's could make this 20 mile trip up to the village. After crossing the border, the landscape was surreal. Huge green mountains, rocky cliffs, and not a person or structure to be seen for miles and miles. Wildlife of note were African bearded eagles, baboons, elan (largest of the antelope species), and sugar birds.
Unfortunately, the top was clouded-in upon arrival, so the best views were shielded today. The village at the top of the Sani Pass is one of the higher spots in all of Africa: 9400 feet elevation. It actually snowed yesterday, although has melted since. The seasons are reversed here in S.A., so we are entering the middle stages of autumn at this point. Our visit also boasted a first for us. Terri and I had a beer (Maluti) and burger (McBostho Burger) in the Highest Pub in all of Africa. Pretty good digs for the extremely remote spot we've found.
Other than lunch and a beer, our purpose for the trip was to spend some time with the local Basotho people and experience their culture. As they speak Sesotho, our guide interpreted. A few interesting tidbits:
1. The Basotho people live in small circular huts, about 15 feet in diameter. The coned roofs are entirely made of dried grass, and the walls and floors are made of a mixture of clay and cow dung. They are quite resourceful people for the extreme climate and resources of the area. Most of the winter is lived under snow and below-zero temperatures. They actualy use steel grates to cook their fires upon, and below the dirt floor are rocks touching the metal grate that heat and provide heated floors.
2. Identification: The locals all carry small sticks about 2 feet long. Wrapped along each end is a creative design of multi-colored telephone wire. Each pattern is absolutely unqique to a person, and it serves as their I.D. their entire lives. As there obviously is no DMV to get a license, a stick found along the rocky terrain would indicate who most likely died. They carry these sticks literally everywhere they go.
3. Education: Unfortunately, the village we visited is far to remote and poor to allow for education. A vast majority of the people here go uneducated in any formal manner. If the parents can afford boarding school, then some kids will be sent to some of the larger villages. I sense this the opportunity for this is very poor though.
4. Economy: Beyond the straw hats and beaded jewelry they sell to tourists such as ourselves, I see very little income for the people of this village. In fact, I sense that bartering and the use of livestock is truly the currency of choice. We did offer a collection for a woman who told her stories and shared her home with us. With a few tours per day coming in, I imagine that would allow just enough for their infrequent cab rides into the neighboring villages for the essentials.
5. Marriage: Ancient traditions still hold true. To marry, one must come up with the dinero first. When I say money, I mean..... Cows. A traditional marriage requires 12 cows to go to the father before a ceremony is performed. However, if the wife already has 1 child to another man--11 cows. And so on and so on. 12 kids..... Free! And I thought planning a wedding in Lake Tahoe was a mess....
Anyway, we finished up our educational chat with a local woman, who shared some bread and beer with us in her hut. The bread was actually pretty good. The beer, 2% alcohol and fermented in plastic buckets in her hut, not-so-good.
After a spine-rattling 2 hour drive back to the hotel, we enjoyed some dinner in the adjacent village of Underberg (back in South Africa). Terri had the filet this night, and I had some butternut squash/sweet potato soup and some chicken and pasta. Again, very good eats.
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