Passing through the Gates of Paradise
The girls all admiring the view - we all traveled together in my truck
First sunrise at Malealea lodge
The ponytrekkers ready for departure. Most of us have never met before this journey and it was surprising how much fun you can have in rural Lesotho with a bunch of complete strangers.
Trekking through the mountains. The surefootedness of these ponies was admirable and I did not feel qualified holding the reins at all, so much the better for taking lots and lots of photos of the breathtaking scenary
The start of a death defying decent ;-p
Ok round about here I closed my eyes ...yes that is my pony's ears in this picture. Her name was Zara and she deserves a medal. The way she measured each carefull step before changing her weight and climbing up and over places I did not even think a mountain goat could go was just amazing
Over the river and up the other side, which was no less scary
At last - lunch break
Seven hours later we reached our destination for the night. A normal functional Basotho village far removed from any major roads or shopping centres. Here the hours are announced by cock crow and starlight. We slept in those two huts visible in the background
Sharing a fire, dinner and drinks with our guides and the local men living in the village. Women are still seen and not heard around here.
The next morning we stretched our weary stiff legs with an hour walk to the Ribaneng waterfall. More breathtaking scenery awaited us around every bend in the mountain
A local mountain goat herder hailing us good morning
The falls in the distance
Our guide, despite the copious amounts of sherry that he consumed the previous night and a body that was just sinews and bones he set a fast rolling gait through the mountains all the time puffing on his homebrewed and rolled cigarette
1 comment:
(it's laurel) Maritha - how wonderful! I am so jealous! I bet you had an absolutely amazing time. What breathtaking scenery.
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