Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa, and Lesotho

SA PHOTOS: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.631898768078.2076914.43700183&type=1&l=60598e8ab0 LESOTHO PHOTOS: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.634929938588.2077432.43700183&type=1&l=a1049f44df After two months in South Africa, I am very sad to leave! I can't believe the time has gone so fast- I have grown quite fond of this country, and the time has passed FAR too quickly! After I left Durban, I finally said goodbye to the beach and headed into the mountains, which many of you know is my preference, anyway, and I certainly was not disappointed. My first stop was the Drakensberg Mountains. The backpackers was an absolute paradise with a huge property (converted farm, so you sleep in silos) with absolutely stunning views of the amphitheatre (the surrounding mountains look like an amphitheatre) and endless corn fields! There was loads of hiking to do, so the first day I met a bunch of South Africans who were there for their long weekend for the public holidays, and I tagged along with them to go hike Tugela Falls the next morning. The falls are the second highest in the world, however, due to the lack of rain in the dry winter season, the waterfall was little more than a trickle! The hike to the top though was fantastic, complete with having to climb up and down two sets of chain ladders about 20 meters high over a cliff to get on top of the mesa. The top though was stunning with grasslands all next to the river leading to the falls, and I was absolutely green with envy when I realized that you could camp up there and there we were, tentless :(. After a testing our nerves a bit too close for comfort next to the cliffs, we had a quick snooze in the sun before heading back down before sunset. It happened that this was my birthday (was sung to on the top of the mountain!), and I could not have asked for a more perfect day with more delightful people- what a blast! The next day I thought I would check out a new country, and took a tour over to Lesotho, about a two hour drive with a thorough "African massage" the whole way (the nice way of saying absolutely atrocious dirt roads that pitch you all over the car!). Our first stop was at the school in the village of Mafika-Lisiu, but unfortunately it was a public holiday, so no school! We had a proper lesson though in the little desks about the history of Lesotho, which was very interesting. I learned that it is the 3rd poorest country (next to Somalia and Ethiopia), and because of this they rarely use cash, but rather trade most things (at least in the villages), and also that due to poor heathcare, the HIV rate is an outrageous 45%. Our guide explained to us before we set out hiking that when the children yell "[the name for white people, I can't remember what it is]", that while some consider it a negative term, but is not meant that way. In fact, the name literally means "people of the water" because they first saw white people arrive by boat and did not know there was land elsewhere, and therefore thought they were from the sea. We carried on though and hiked to the caves with the old paintings from the bushpeople (600-800 years old) then looked for white or yellow flags above the houses to indicate that they have with maize beer or pineapple beer, respectively. Because people can't afford to buy most things, when a family has a surplus of something that will go bad before they can eat it, they put a flag above their house to indicate to the village to come eat or drink, (a red flag indicates meat, which is very rare, and a green flag indicates vegetables). Luckily we found a white flag and headed down for a maize beer, which we drank warm from a bucket ... it was not, err, the best tasting beer I've ever had, but the Basotho people seemed to enjoy it just fine! Our last two stops were to a traditional healer in the village (Mokoma), and to a local home to try some Lesotho food (much better than the beer), before having to get back to the South African border by 5 pm. What a great day experiencing a very unique culture! I had a couple more days of playing in the mountains (and attempting to run at altitude through the cornfields- ha!) before catching a ride up to Johannesburg/Pretoria to meet up with a couple guys I had met on the Wild Coast in Chintsa. After a quick welcome drink, we concocted the highly flawed and poorly planned mission of heading up to the dam to go camping, and after a series of mishaps, ended up stumbling upon a backpackers in the middle of nowhere that happened to overlook a game reserve- excellent! We braaied (barbaqued) while watching the impala and wildebeast come drink at the watering hole just on the other side of the fence, and it was so much better than we could have ever expected! It was great to spend a couple days with those guys, and then it was back to Jo'burg to meet up with one of the guys from the Drakensbergs before departing for Nambia in the morning... South Africa will certainly be missed, but I am excited to check out a new country!