Sani Pass & Lesotho

The high point of our stay in Himeville (and a high point of the entire trip) was our guided tour of the treacherous Sani Pass over the Drakensbergs into Lesotho.

Our B&B host arranged our tour with professional ornithologist Aldo Berruti.  Of course he pointed out many bird species, some of which are found no where else, but he also explained the unique geology, plants, history, cultures, and politics of the area, all the time carefully navigating the steep, muddy, boulder-strewn, deeply rutted, and occasionally washed out “road” that constitutes the only route on the entire eastern border between South Africa and Lesotho.

Heavy rain last night made traveling even more difficult, but it also resulted in spectacular waterfalls -

Aldo commented that he rarely saw some of the waterfalls, nor had he seen the Sani River running so full.

The border crossings between South Africa and Lesotho were quick and easy - and now we have even more stamps in our passports.

Aldo explained how this one time uninhabited area came to be settled (an astute tribal leader saw this as a place to escape the fierce Zulus), as well as the culture and political history.  Lesotho has several interesting distinctions, including the highest low point of any country in the world, and the only country to be entirely surrounded by just one other country (South Africa).  It’s also one of the poorest, and, tragically, has an exceptionally high rate of AIDS.  The area we visited is very sparsely populated - most of the people live along the western border.

It does have a good highway that was recently built by the Chinese (we’ve heard several versions of why they did this), but it’s already showing a lack of even the most basic maintenance - boulders have fallen on the roadway and ditches, and they just sit there, waiting to be hit or run over by a large truck, causing cracks and holes in the pavement.

Aldo arranged for us to visit a woman in her home.  He pays her a modest amount, and she offered us freshly baked bread and beer that she makes.

We declined the beer, but the bread - baked in a Dutch oven over the fire in the middle of the floor - was delicious.  She also has some Lesotho-made crafts to sell.  As we left we noticed solar panels - she has a cell phone charging business, as well.  I really admire her entrepreneurial resourcefulness.

The floor has a hard surface made from a combination of mud and cow dung.  Since the terrain is treeless, cow patties serve as fuel for fires.  There’s no opening in the roof, so the room is fairly smoky, but not as bad as I’d imagined.  It smelled like the peat fires in rural Ireland and Scotland.

With Aldo occasionally serving as interpreter (she spoke limited English), we were able to ask about her life.  She has six children who all live in the town about 50 kilometers away where they attend school.  She was married, but her husband “disappeared.”  Aldo later told us that she now has a partner who seems to be good to her, and that despite her status as a woman with little or no education in a country where women have few advantages, she has carved out a successful business with tour guides like Aldo and has made a good life for herself.

We also saw many shepherds, young men, some as young as 10, wearing blankets, hats, and rubber boots to keep them warm and dry - at an elevation of well over 10,000 ft., it’s never warm here.  They spend the summer season living in small stone huts,  eating a vegetarian diet consisting primarily of ground corn porridge, and taking care of the flocks of sheep and goats.

Aldo asked these two if we could take their pictures - they happily abliged, and Aldo gave them food left from our lunch, which they cheerfully accepted, as well.

The Drakensberg Mountains are an interesting contrast to the Cascades in the Pacific Northwest.  For one thing, they’re among the oldest in the world, while the Cascades are geologically very young.  Another contrast is that the “Drak’s” aren’t volcanic like the Cascades - they are actually escarpments created by 180 million years of erosion, with unique layers.  It’s apparently the only place where a layer of ancient sea bed sandstone is covered by a very thick (roughly a kilometer deep) layer of basalt.  And they’re very stable, geologically speaking - earthquakes are very rare, and there hasn’t been any volcanic or tectonic activity in the last 50 million years, give or take a week.

The Drakensbergs encircled the country of Lesotho, which is a plateau that tilts from the very high eastern border down to the moderately high western edge (where most of the population lives).  

Life is difficult in Lesotho, but as Aldo explained, the people are remarkably content.