On Thursday night – the schedule was busy,
after work I headed out with some friends to a book swap event at the house of
a Dutch couple who have lived here for some years, this rush was then followed
by a dash to the Alliance Francaise in town to watch a French film “J’aime
regarder les filles” – a comedy and enjoyable enough if you get the chance to
see it. We then set off to the “Good Times” bar for a few drinks and a boogie
with friends.
I hope you all had a great St Davids Day /
Dydd Gwyl Dewi (the National day of Wales).
I think I probably had the most surreal yet absolutely brilliant St
Davids Day I will possibly ever have.
Having worked for a few hours in the
morning, I headed to Matsieng with my friend Ellie. Polly who is also on the
Welsh Government programme is based there and was invited to a local school, St
Louis to celebrate St Davids with them – having told them she had friends from
Wales, we were all invited – though unsure about what we were letting ourselves
in for we set off. The heavy rain and thunder followed us most of the way – but
within the hour we had arrived and were stood in the office waiting for
proceedings to begin.
Soon enough we were ushered into the main
hall – guests of honour at the celebration, the first thing I see is a girl
dressed in full Welsh traditional outfit, what!!? Yes very random and certainly
not what I was expecting. Though she seemed very happy a great big smile across
her face. We then sit down and proceedings are soon underway.
The way they are celebrating St David’s
here is by getting the children to showcase dances that represent the tribal
groups of Lesotho – dance after dance, some just a dance, whilst other groups
backed by choirs and drums, we sit at watch as if some judges on Britain’s got
talent – only these kids have serious talent. Fantastic outfits, colours and
dance and some of the singing really moving stuff and an absolute pleasure to
watch, great stuff! It would be great to see these performances at the
International Eisteddfod in Llangollen.
We are then whisked off for food – the
teachers have all made dishes – stunning and delicious, the pumpkin, chicken
and variety of traditional dishes, something to really savour. (Thanks for
sorting this Polly!!) a unique experience and insight into Basotho culture.
We then head up to the Royal Archives where
Polly works, a beautiful setting on top of the hill opposite the Royal Palace.
The rondavel huts on the hill used to represent a home for each wife of the
King; today’s modern King (who studied at both Bristol and Cambridge Uni) only
has one wife so these have become part of history, the building nearby is
Lesotho’s first Post Office, still fully functional. We’re are greeted by
Polly’s colleague and begin a short tour, before we are interrupted – the King
has arrived with a friend and bodyguards and to look at the progress the
project is making. Time to make haste, we need to get to Malealea lodge before
it gets too late, as we wait the cold chill and rain remind me of Wales – this
is the first time I have felt cold since I arrived.
The journey to Malealea ends up being quite
the adventure, and we laugh at the craziness of it all.
Finally we begin to climb up to the gates
of paradise as you get closer to the lodge and village – the scenery is
stunning, beautiful hills and valleys stretch for as far as the eye can see.
It’s great to escape the city.
We arrive, grab our bags and head for our
accommodation – drop the bags, then head for a deserved beer! Iechyd da!! The
silence and relaxed nature of the lodge is fantastic. We then head to the
kitchen area to cook our food.
Saturday morning and we’re up at a
reasonable hour after a good night’s sleep, Polly and El head off to get their
horses for the trek, however my back is pretty sore so I decide to trek it – a
5 hour trip to see some ancient cave drawings and then to the waterfall. My
guide is 18 years old and called Tseipo, he lives locally in the village and
has lived here his entire life. We set off down the valley and I ask him about
life here – he tells me he lives with his sister, his mother works in South
Africa and sends money home and hid father passed away some years ago…the
reality of life in a remote village in Lesotho.
We have a good rapport, and he’s happy to
walk fast so good news for me. We stop at the first village and he explains the
system of chiefs that exists in the area and how it all works. We then continue
further down towards the river and follow it towards the ravine. We arrive
ahead of the horses and wait for them before we scramble down towards the
paintings – some as new as 400 years ago, others deemed to be between 5-8,000
years old…Polly provides excellent insight into the paintings and how the
compare with others she’s seen worldwide, meanwhile El’s geological knowledge
gives an insight into the landscape features. After scrambling back and forth
to the various caves we head back up and set off on the next adventure – to the
waterfall. On foot we follow the river, crossing back and forth, jumping from
rock to rock – it reminds me of crossing rivers in Snowdonia, though the 30+
degrees heat doesn’t! J
After a couple of hours we arrive at the
waterfall, no sing of anyone else but us. We stop for lunch and sit in silence,
with only the noise of the waterfall – a great place to sit, think and relax. I
go for a paddle, then eat my lunch, and finally the girls arrive. I wait for
them as they paddle as their arrival has prompted the arrival of a very small
crowd of young men. They are soon out of the water and I turn back with Tseipo,
heading down river. We race along the
river bed, until I’m in the water that is, a thoroughly soaked foot and
laughter for my efforts. We then share a snack bar as the heat is energy
sapping.
Another hour passes as we turn up the ridge
towards the lodge, we are there and I tip Tseipo, thanking him for his
patience. My friends have also arrived at the Lodge, a good bunch – we head for
a nice refreshing beer at the bar. We relax and order dinner, as it begins to
get later a choir sing on the lawn of the lodge, followed by a local ‘funky’
band using handmade instruments – the ambience is great and we sit back and
enjoy. Soon enough it’s time for food, the t-bone steak and potatoes and
pumpkin are pretty tasty. The chocolate cake and hot custard afterwards also
hit the spot.
We then head to the communal kitchen lounge
area with our rum and coke and pass the night away in good company playing
charades! Great fun – my friend, Reinko’s interpretation of ‘Tinkerbell’ was a
highlight.
The morning brings with it a slightly sore
head, but not too bad, the amazing views and a dip in the swimming pool are
great tonic for this. A nice lazy day, playing Frisbee, relaxing poolside,
drinks and music….all is well apart from the fact that I forget to cover my
feet in sun cream and end up toasting them – not for the first time in my life,
d’oh!!
As the day draws to and end we finally pay
up and leave, head up the dirt track and back to Maseru, a short stop at the
gates of paradise with the sun going down caps it all off perfectly. Good
company, good adventures, fun times and a relax!
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