This post was originally an e-mail that was writing to my family to make them super-super jealous of my fantastic time here in Africa. But there was so much to tell, so many things happened in such a short weekend that, when i was done, i realized i had my most recent blog entry. Now i can make every jealous of me, not just my family!
So here is my story-
We left for Lesotho, Rebecca, Kieran and I, last Thursday at about 3pm. We had to drive down to Jo-burg and around it in order to head down into the Free State (the province below Gauteng the province I am currently living in). We ended getting lost even before we got to Joburg! The highway tends to veer off and if you aren't paying attention you end up on a smaller highway. So we had to find our way back to the main highway, along the way we passed by a bunch of townships, and it is pretty eye-opening to see how the majority of the black population lives. All due to Apartheid.
Once we found our way back to the main highway we headed south to the Free State. The drive there was pretty amazing in that it is all flat farm land. If you just stared out the side of the window you could almost forget that you were in Africa and back in Alberta, with rolling prairies, with a few trees scattered across the landscape.
It got dark soon after 6pm, and this amazing lightening storm hit, since there isn't much rain; it is all thunder and lightening. Really cool. We'd be driving along in the dark and then for a brief instant we'd be able to see the flat prarie landscape of the Free State bathed in an eire white glow.
We made it to Lesotho in one piece. We drove along the winding roads in the dark, unfortunately unable to take in the scenery. But it’s kind of a good thing because we realized on Sunday as we drove home that a few of the turns had sheer drops to them!
The next day at Malealea lodge, we saddled up for our overnight pony trek. We had a guide and our pack horse and our ponies. We trekked for 5hrs over multiple mountains to get to our remote village location. On the way there, with about 1/2hr ride left we had to take refuge in a small village because we got caught in a hail storm. It had been threatening to rain all day and finally it did. As we were waiting for it to hit, you could see this wall of water coming across the valley directly towards us. It only lasted a few minutes, but enough hail was dropped to make the ground white!
We continued on and arrived at our village; we got to stay in a mud hut, not more than 15 feet across. the lodge had an assortment of cooking utensils and a stove, etc. we had about 2hrs before the sun went down so we decided to have a walk around the village and see what life is like there. All the children in the village came up to play with these strangers asking for sweets and money. They were interested in our cameras, my hairy face! And our clothes. There was a woman there to knew some English and attempted to translate what the children were saying. They told Rebecca that her nose was crooked and on wrong. They were fascinated with her curly hair and at one point actually cupped her breast! And then laughed loudly at the reaction. The kids were amazed with my hairy arms and face, asking to touch it. Once they saw our cameras they kept yelling "Fote" and then posing, wanting their photo taken.
Once all the excitement had died down and as the sun set we made our way back to our hut and cooked dinner. Everyone goes to bed when the sun goes down because they have no electricity. So we were asleep by 8pm. and I’ll tell you, electricity or not I’d have still fallen asleep then, that pony trek was exhausting!
The next morning at 6am we got up, packed some of our things and then hiked to the nearby waterfall. It was about an hour long trek, up winding paths and around large hills. Really cool. When we arrived at the river, you could look up and see the sun rising over the top of the falls, with all the mist dancing in the sunlight! At this point we took off our shoes and went wading into the river, making our way over rocks and through rushing water to the actual falls. The river wasn't that fast but it was cold! After a few pictures and taking some time to actually admire the falls with my own eyes, we headed back to our village where we met our guide who had the horses all ready to get back to Malealea.
The trek was uneventful, but still very awesome. We took a different path, this time following the river. As we were getting close to Malealea lodge, I was getting a bit anxious, I wanted to go faster on my horse, not simply at a walk. So I was kicking it and telling it to go faster, but all I could get out of it was a slight trot for a few feet after each kick and then back into a walk. But as we got closer to the lodge, all the horses started to get anxious and were walking a bit faster. Faster, and faster, trying to keep up with each other and still trying to beat the other horses. Eventually, much to Rebecca's horror, all of our horses, Mine, Kieran's and hers, all took off at a very fast trot that eventually turned into a gallop! It was so cool! I’ve never ridden a horse that fast before, and I loved it! Rebecca on the other had didn't. She was never comfortable on her horse and didn't really know how to control it or steer or anything (now, I’m not a perfect rider, but I do know how to hold on properly) so as soon as her horse took off she freaked. She was yelling "STOP! STOP!!!" and holding on for dear life! I tried to yell to her how to get the horse to stop: "Rebecca! Hold on to the saddle with one hand and pull on the reigns as hard as you can with the other!"
At this point she wasn't able to do so, I tried to catch up with her on my horse (still going at full gallop mind you) but I too am not the best rider and could only control my steed to a certain extent. It certainly wasn't like in the movies where the dashing cowboy comes to the rescue of the damsel on a runaway horse, I only managed to keep my hosre going in the same direction as hers. As her horse kept running, she was slipping to the side of her saddle, when I looked up I saw her clutching at the side of her horse! But luckily by this time her horse had slowed and came to a stop, where she promptly fell off. No harm was done, though she was quite shaken. Meanwhile, Kieran's horse was way off in the other direction, doing its own thing as well.
I eventually caught up with Rebecca and held on to her horse, which was now happily munching on the grass.
Once our guide caught up to us, he hooked Rebecca's horse onto his and we all resumed our line and walking pace. But, the little kid in me just wanted to go faster, so I asked Vincent if I could get the horse to run the rest of the way, making sure that no other horses took off when I did. So I tried to get the horse to go but again to no avail, Robin Elland is a follower horse, not a trail-blazer, much to my chagrin. Kieran's horse, on the other hand was more than happy to take the lead, and once his got going, mine was more than happy to follow. Starting off at a brisk trot, we eventually got up to a full gallop! So much fun!! It’s bumpy up until the gallop then from there it's just a smooth rocking motion, thrusting if you will. Hmmm, I wonder if there is a more subconscious reason why I liked it so much? JK!
We all arrived back at Malealea safe and sound! We got back at around 3pm and got all cleaned up (trail riding makes you very dirty), had naps (getting up at 5am makes you very tired), and had dinner and a few beers at the local bar in the evening. The staff had a little bonfire pit (similar to the one that Grandma had) that they light and a group of older Afrikaans men and women were roasting marshmallows on it. We decided to not be antisocial and join them and met a few cool people. there was a guy, probably around 25-27, who was there with his mom and her friends, who we hung out with, it turns out he's from Pretoria and has offered to take us out sometime and give us a little bit more freedom from the CSIR! Lekker! (cool in Afrikaans). We also hung out with a group of Belgian tourists on a tour of SA, and Bernita, one woman who runs the place. We were just hanging out around the camp fire for hours; eventually I had to go to bed (at 1am) because we were going to be getting up at 6am to get back on the road.
So the next morning we got up, packed, got in the car and took off to Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho. We wanted to go to the Katse Dam and wanted to check out the tourist info place there to see how long it would take to get to Katse because we were pressed for time, and needed to be back on the road to Pretoria by 3pm. it was about an hour to Maseru, and once there we got a bit lost in the city centre. We couldn't find the tourist info, but decided to get something to eat and then go to the dam anyways. We pulled down this small side street which led to a bakery. We parked the car and then proceeded in to get a bite. This leads me to my first experience of African corruption.
The street we came down was a one way street. We went down it the wrong way. One of the street vendor's must have seen this and warned Kieran (the driver) that the police will fine you if you don't be careful. Kieran thanked him for the warning. We suspect that this warning wasn't done out of the kindness of his heart. He probably wanted some money, and when he didn't get it....
When we got our of the bakery two police officers were standing outside of our car. They informed us that we had broken their law and that they would need to take us down to the police station to get booked, and then have to face a magistrate court the following day, because it is closed on Sundays. Kieran stalled by getting them to show us the one-way sign we had missed (it was on the other side of the street, and coming from the direction we did, there was no way we could have seen it). When we got back to the car, they gave us this speech about how much trouble we were in, and that they would have to confiscate our passports until we showed up at the magistrate court on Monday. Then they added that they could do us a favour and help us out by taking care of the matter then and there. I.e.-they wanted a bribe.
We eventually gave them R100 and they let us go. They were a bit concerned about Rebecca as she was visibly upset by the whole extrotion thing, and didn't want to let us go until they were sure we were happy with the bribe. Kieran was pretty calm about the whole thing, and I was kind of indifferent, I knew what they wanted, I didn't like the fact that were targeted because we were white tourists, but I knew that coming to Africa I would eventually run into situations like this (or worse) so I just accepted it.
But anyways, no harm no foul eh? As we got back into the car, visibly shaken, the 3 of us, but no worse for ware, we decided that we'd head up north to check out a few craft shops and then leave via the Caldonnespoort border and head back home. The weavings in these little towns were pretty amazing, and I considered getting one for Alex's wedding present, but I have no idea what the decor is in her appt, and getting her African rug would be cool but if it clashed, then that would be a travesty!
So we left Lesotho around 2pm and got back to Pretoria at 5-ish. Not without drama along the way. Rebecca and Kieran got into a heated argument regarding the colonization of small Latin American nations by the United States, (through Globalization, which can be considered a form of neo-colonialism, but we all know that right?) I think we spend too much time together.
Anyways, i'll be posting pictures up soon, but until then, here is my absolute favorite picture i've taken in Africa yet. When i get home i'm going to frame it and put it up on my wall.
