Lesotho, Africa - The Adventure of a Lifetime

If anyone ever has the chance to travel South Africa, I highly recommend staying in Lesotho which is the small country enclosed by South Africa. It's a beautiful country with an elevation of a mile above sea level. The mountains and large sky make this country like no other you will ever see. I had a chance to live in the village, and it was a life changing experience. I stayed with a family in a hut and lived their life. I assisted with their chores, played their games, and went to school with the kids. Some things you might do in a typical day with the Basotho are:

Walking to the river to carry water back to the hut
kill a chicken and prepare it for dinner
let your cows out
Play soccer with the kids
go to school with the kids
do laundry in a bucket
take a bucket bath
Hike the mountains
Pony trek
Clean your front porch with a broom.
Tend to the garden
Play UnoSounds

like an easy life, right? Not so! Remember that these people do not have modern conveniences, so everything we do on a day to day basis that the Basotho do, they have to do manually or from scratch.

Now- this isn't exactly a leisure vacation, but it will open your eyes. The family I stayed with was "rich" which is far below the worst anyone has it in the US. We had a two-room hut- a kitchen and a bedroom. The family gave up their bedroom to give us privacy. They gave us the best food, they let us have the best that they had. How many of us do this for our guests? I did get fleas for the time there, but looking back, it sounds silly to say that it was bearable.

I visited in May/June which is the fall season over there. The day-time was warm in the 70's but the temperature often drops to below freezing over night. Sounds unrealistic- and it feels strange too, so make sure to take a lot of layers that you can easily take off and put on as needed. The best thing to sleep in is a "mummy" type sleeping bag that is made for low temperatures. I got mine at EMS, a local sports store and I loved it.

Sesotho is their native language and they love if you take the time to learn to converse in it. It's a simple language to pick up. I learned short phrases and was soon speaking their language without problems. You can research it online. My family namDitebohoiteboho, which means, "gift from God." It took a while to respond to this name, but wafun.

When I was there, 1 American dollar equated to 7 Rand over there. Lesotho uses Rand that is also used throughout South Africa but they also have Lesotho-specific Rand, so make sure to use it all before you leave. You can exchange money at the airport or when you cross the country lines. The lodge I will mention in a bit can also exchange money.

There is a lodge called Malealea that you can Malealea if you prefer to only visit the village during the day, but you will not experience the same things staying here. It employs some of the local villagers.

If do decide to go, try to take some games for the kids, or old clothes that you don't mind giving away. They are so appreciative of anything you give to them- and it will help them more than you can imagine!