We all slept really well last night and woke up ready to kill and roll this morning. Steve went into town with Brian straight after a basic breakfast of grilled bread because all I could find was a George Foreman grill to cook toast on ( we have subsequently bought a toaster!). Steve's plan was to buy some wifi for us all to use...easy so would think!
I did a tour of beautiful gate for the rest of the team and as always was humbled by the welcome I receive from the house mothers and maintenance guys who always remember my name and genuinely seem excited to have me back. We were planning on leaving at 11 to go up to Malealea, a little community and lodge up in the mountains where I had booked us lunch at 1, it is about a90 minute drive away.
By 10 Steve wasn't back, nor by 10.30 so I phoned Bryan who said they were in the final stages of sorting it all out at the vodacom shop, he assured me Steve would be home by 11. 11 came and went and Fred started giving us Japanese lessons to pass the time. I was getting a little stressed as Steve had taken the van keys with him so we were confined to base and we're wasting precious time. At 11.45 Bryan's land rover pulled in....at last we thought, but alas no, Steve was not with them but at least we had some van keys. Steve was still at the shop, some 2 and a half hours later trying to sort out a sim for his mifi!
Bryan had returned with a toaster though so that wAs good news. We loaded the car with lots of water, it was a hot day, and some food because I guessed we had missed our lunch booking for 1pm by now and then drove to fill up the van with diesel before heading into town to find Steve. Fortunately he had it all sorted by the time we were there and we were able to set off, 75 minutes late.
I took the wheel and drove through some interesting traffic through central Maseru , fortunately we had Bryan's tom tom which was aPreach set up for our destination. We drove out of the city and gradually the scenery became more bucolic and peaceful. Traffic jams turned into Mountain roads, shepherd boys and cow herds took the place of lorries and crowds and lightning flashed over the dark hills as the storm clouds gathered . I was despairing of my carefully planned day and as I drove up the last 7 km of unmade road I wondered why I had bothered but I had confidence it would all be worth while. We finally made it to the lodge and parked our car. I went into the reception desk, told the lovely Basotho Man had finally arrived and apologised for bring nearly an hour late ( I had made up dome time on the quiet roads). He smiled at me kindly and said 'that's ok, you are being african, we knew you would come because you are from beautiful gate and they never let us down. We have kept your dinner for you'.
We watched the kitchen staff light a candle under our dinner ( spaghetti bolognese) and warm it up (a little) and then we helped ourselves from the kitchen to a delicious meal with green salad, beetroot sAlad and freshly steamed bread with fresh spring water and unlimited coffee. I felt the stress drift away............everyone had fallen in love with the place.
After lunch we had a tour of the village by a local young man which was interesting but not as good as the previous tour we had taken back in 2014. We waited a few minutes under cover of a wooden hut for the rain to pass, giving thanks for the rain as the village was running out of water. We were quite chilly and I regretted not brining a hacker but within 5 minutes the rain had cleared, the sun was beating down and I was very grateful I had not brought a jacket. We were treated to a taste of locally brewed beer, always a treat, but actually not as bad as I remembered it and learned about life in a remote village of 364 people.
Back at the lodge was had a stroll around, admired a magnificent peacock displaying its beauty to 3 rather disinterested peahens and sat admiring the vista of unspoilt mountain scenes whilst drinking iced tea which was the only choice in the little cafe there.
We decided regretfully to leave so we could get back before dark and Steve drove home leisurely
giving us time to take lots of scenic shots ad by how the sky was blue and it was as perfect a day as it could be.
We had already decided to eat out this evening and fish and chips was decided upon as I knew a good place. After a quick freshen up we enjoyed fish and chips out of a box sitting outside in the dark, Fred went for the calamari after some persuasion as he thought it was too expensive. When I assured him it really only was £4 he allowed himself the indulgence and josh went for a Russian and chips....and you thought cannibalism had been outlawed! A Russian is like a frankfurter, stress not!
Food is never a quick affair in Africa but it was fine as we were not in a rush. My hakuna Matata approAch to life kicked in and we spent a chilled evening chatting, sharing stories and making friends with a fellow volunteer from the US who popped in to visit whilst enjoying some south african beverages.
Looking forward to another cultural day tomorrow before knuckling down to some hard work on Monday....
The team is brilliant. Every time I bring a team it is different as each team has its own character and this team is not short of character. I love that they already love Lesotho , the country has worked its magic and Josh would like nothing better than a house in the mountains with a keyboard and a guitar. If they are happy, I am happy and now I am going to sleep either a smile on my fAce. The storm that hit us around 8 is passed, the wind has died down and the world according to team GB is peaceful.
Night all..... Till tomorrow
Jenny
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