The trip to Lesotho

The following blog post was written on the evening of 2 July 2008. Due to technological restrictions it was posted at a later date.

Today we finally made the trek to Lesotho. We loaded up the van around 11am, after a visit to the Commission on Gender Equality in Johannesburg, and settled in for a long drive. Dick followed behind in a car and a few people decided to join in, leaving 14 in the van.

Much of the ride reminded me of Wisconsin in the fall, which corn stalks and a slightly hilly brown environment. Along the way we noticed the squatter communities, people who have built on another individuals land. Many of these structures did not look desirable in terms of a place to live. As we drove the land become more and more hilly, eventually leading us to a higher and higher altitude-and the surrounding began to look more like the images we had seen of Lesotho (which was exciting). By the time we reached the border crossing the land had changed dramatically from Johannesburg, and it was clear to see that we really were about to enter the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho.

The border crossing required each of us to pass through the offices of customs (nothing to declare) and immigration, which were separated by a river (we crossed the bridge on foot, but could have taken the van if we wanted). The immigration office required some paperwork and a passport stamp. The process was pretty painless, but we will have to do it each time we cross the Lesotho/South Africa border-which is why we needed a minimum of two blank pages in our passports.

Once inside Lesotho the van was surrounded by people trying to sell us things, including a very persistent boy who wanted us to buy a passport cover. It was already getting dark (it gets dark around 5:30) and we road the last 40 minutes or so to Roma. I cannot wait until morning so I can see my surroundings better!