Skiing?

So I went skiing on the weekend. Three hours outside of Maseru is Oxbow, one of two ski hills in Southern Africa. I went with three of my colleagues. We got up early and drove through the Lowlands of Lesotho up to the mountains. At 3105 feet we arrived. It was quite hilarious. At that altitude there is snow but not enough on which to ski. However, with a lot of snowmaking equipment, an Austrian entrepreneur has compensated for the minimal amount of snow and created a ski hill. From top to bottom, it can be skied in ten seconds but that hardly seemed to matter as there is something quite novel about being able to ski at all in Southern Africa

Driving to the mountain was equally as interesting as skiing. About ten minutes out of Maseru, the true Lesotho starts to emerge. As we drove we passed dozens of small villages built up on the sides of mountains. Many of these villages are not accessible by car, only donkey or horse. In fact, a lot of what I saw reminded me of Mexico as donkeys are used extensively and most people we saw were wrapped in Basotho blankets, very similar to those you would find in Mexico. We also had to be careful on the road because of all the carts being pulled by oxen or horses also using the highway.

On this journey it became very clear to me that Lesotho has two distinctive zones, the Lowlands where Maseru is located and the Mountains. In terms of the latter, when you are into them, you come to appreciate why Lesotho has been dubbed the Mountain Kingdom. Incidentally, much of what I saw reminded me of Drumheller and the Badlands while other parts reminded me of Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland. Because it is winter and the rains haven’t started yet, the mountains look majestic but also hostile and inhabitable, though many people live in the mountains.

As you can imagine, there were not a lot of Basotho skiing at Oxbow, mainly serving food. In fact, I did not see anybody black skiing at all, just rich white South Africans who had come from Johannesburg. Even though the ski slope was fairly minimal it is at a very significant elevation, over 3000 feet. Therefore, skiing for just 10 seconds was hugely tiring.

At about 4oclock we left the mountain as it gets dark at around 6 in Lesotho and we wanted to get down from the mountains while we still had some light. Driving at night in Lesotho and parts of South Africa is a very strange thing. Because most places in the country have no electricity (actually only 10% of the country has electricity) you drive though communities that are pitch black. As you turn a corner, the car lights light up the side of the mountain and for a brief moment you see life happening and then darkness. And life does go on for Basotho in darkness because it gets dark at 6 so there is a lot of time left in the day. As we were driving, all we could see on either side were little fires dotting the mountains and valleys.

At about 7 we crossed over the border into South Africa (the roads are significantly better) and headed to Clarence, an artist colony cum tourist destination. The Lesotho- South African borders are always busy, one reason why there is a feeling here, not among the elites, but by the majority of the population, of wanting South Africa to annex Lesotho. However, because my friends are all employees of the UN and because we had diplomatic plates on our car, we just sailed through the border.
We had dinner in Clarence and then drove back to Maseru.

On Sunday, John and I went back across the border to SA to Ladybrand (about a half hour drive) and had lunch at Beef & Reef. It was great! I had coffee, wine, Calamari, fries, vegetables and chips all for around 125 Rand. Sitting across from us was Pascal, France’s representative in Lesotho. He and I began talking and he invited me to take French Lessons at the Alliance Francaise starting in August. I think I will take him up on this offer.

After lunch, John and I drove back to the UN compound. Our goal for the afternoon was to find the kittens that had been born by the resident cat. The reason being for this was because myself and Mapesa’s friend have decided to adopt the two kittens. I am very excited about this as I have always wanted a cat. Unfortunately, John and I couldn’t find the kittens. For the rest of the afternoon John and Adam and I sat around outside, built a fire, and hung out until the soccer match started. Then we all went down to Gynn’s house and watch France lose to Italy. I was disappointed but I did get a kick out of Zidane dropping the Italian player with his head.

Other than this, not to much new. If I had to say what I am missing most about home right now, besides family etc., is good coffee. I feel like I am back in Wales as I have had to accept Nescafe granular coffee to which you add hot water and milk.