9,400 Alleys of FEZ, Morocco

Posted on November 8, 2016

Previous post: Roman ruins of Volubilis and on to Meknes

Thursday, November 3 FEZ

Good thing we had a guide to see the Medina today as the old city of Fes has 9,400 alleys. You could get lost in there for days! We visited a tannery and a place where they weave fabrics out of silk made from agave, cotton and wool.

Later we ventured out on our own in the “new” city (it’s only 700 years old) and walked about until we found the golden arches. They’re everywhere.

I guess if you want something you have to wake him up

Ceiling of the restaurant we ate lunch in

Smelly job

Tannery uses pigeon poop to cure leather

At one time it was a school

Just hanging out with his donkey

View of some of the 9,400 alleys in the Fez medina

Weaving fabric for scarves, etc

Roman ruins of Volubilis and on to Meknes

Posted on November 6, 2016

We continue our trek through Morocco. The previous post can be found here: 9,400 Alleys of FEZ, Morocco

Audience participation at the belly dancing show

Nov 2

After an early breakfast we were on the road by 7 am. Our first stop was the Roman ruins of Volubuis. It’s taken 50 years to excavate just a portion of the city which was destroyed in the 1775 by a major earthquake.

After lunch at a women’s cooperative started by Planeterra (charity run by G Adventures) we headed to Meknes and enjoyed a guided tour of the Medina.

Upon reaching our final destination of Fes, we checked into our hotel, chilled for a bit and met the others for dinner and a Moroccan show including drummers, music, a magician and belly dancers.

Volubilis Roman ruins

Volubilis is a partly excavated Berber and Roman city in Morocco situated near the city of Meknes, and commonly considered as the ancient capital of the kingdom of Mauretania

Mosaic in the floor.

Meknes, the king’s palace

Chefchaouen, the blue city

Posted on November 5, 2016

Nov 1

Mussafa met us at our hotel and took the 5 of us who wanted to go on a hike into the mountains. We passed a Spanish mosque, lots of sheep and goats, olive trees, cork trees and local agriculture which had recently been harvested. Passing through small villages we heard what we thought was drumming. It was actually the pounding of the local crop, marijuana, for processing.

We climbed over 1,000 metres before starting the descent into the village where we were to have lunch. It was only just noon so we were surprised to be already at our destination as we were told it was a 5 hour hike. I guess we’re super hikers. I found that amusing as we’re the oldest members of our group of 14. Lunch was Moroccan tea, bean soup, a shared chicken tajine, and orange slices for dessert. It was the best tajine we’ve had so far. A land rover took us back to town. A few of us would have preferred to walk as the “road” made for a very bumpy ride.

After a quick stop at the hotel we set off to discover the back streets of Chefchaouen, a beautiful, friendly blue city. We met the rest of the group for dinner and discovered a place recommended on trip advisor. It was full so he put us all in a room near the kitchen. He brought us an assortment of starters like salad, eggplant, bread, olives, roasted zucchini, goat cheese and a tomato red pepper dish. Each of us chose a meat which was served in a clay dish that kept it very hot. Pastries and Moroccan tea were served for dessert.

Another great day!

The iconic olive tree. They’re everywhere

Herding goats

Hiking up the mountain

The government keeps trying to get them to grow something else, but nothing is as lucrative as this

Chefchaouen

Typical rural home

Cats everywhere

Can you spot the cat?

Babouche. Berber shoes

Tangiers; a Sea, an ocean and a strait

Posted on November 2, 2016

Oct 31

A four hour drive got us to Tangiers where we met our local guide, Mohammad. At 84 years old he sure was spry! He shared lots of history and fascinating information on the sea port city that boasts shoreline on the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean and the strait of Gibraltar. Spain is only 15 km away so there’s lots of Spanish spoken too. Many people in Morocco speak at least 3 languages and most more. Arabic, French, Berber, English and Spanish are the most common.

Another couple of hours driving through the Rif mountains got us to Chefchaouen, the blue city. By this time is was quite dark so we just got a taste of the beauty of the blue painted streets on our way to dinner.

Typical street in Tangiers

Man in Djellaba in an alley

Hand of Fatima door knocker

Looking through the wall to the Atlantic Ocean. Tangiers has shoreline on the Atlantic, Mediterranean and the Strait of Gibraltar

A fig tree growing out of a wall

Moroccan Pharmacy. Jars of healing herbs

Casablanca. That is all.

Posted on October 31, 2016

Hamid, our host at the Riad Ben Saleh (Marrakesh)purchased train tickets for us and ordered a taxi. Wow. We spent the morning talking to other guests and enjoying coffee at a cafe before boarding the train for Casablanca. Compartments each have 8 seats and for a while we just looked out the windows at the view and did some reading. Eventually I struck up a conversation with the lady beside me who, although she said her English was poor, did VERY well. She taught us a bit of French and pointed out things of interest on the journey like olive trees, the name of a river, city names, etc. They weren’t announcing stops so she told us when to get off. VERY helpful!

The Moroccan house hotel is much fancier than our riad but not NEARLY as friendly OR helpful. I asked him about a tour of Casablanca and Rabat so he called someone and handed me the phone. The price was exorbitant so we opted to do our usual “get lost in the city” tour. After settling in we got a map (for a fee, whereas Hamid gave us a Marrakesh map free) asked the porter which direction to turn outside the hotel. He was very helpful.

Casablanca is a busy, smelly city with a LOT of traffic. At one point we must have looked lost as a lady stopped and asked if she could help us find something so we asked her about a nice place to eat. Another kind local. And they say Moroccans aren’t friendly? We’ve managed to find several!

Sunday, Oct 30. We certainly got lost today. In fact we got lost a few times. The last time we had absolutely no idea where we were so when we stumbled upon an ice cream shop we decided it was time to sit down and enjoy a cone. Of course it was crowded and a young couple sat down beside us. Sue asked if he spoke English and it went from there. Next thing we knew, he left his ice cream on the table and went to ask someone else where we were and how to get to the ocean. We figured if we got there we could figure out the rest. Such a nice young man!

All that getting lost accounted for about 30,000 steps and 22 km. It was a great day!

View of the Hassan 2 Mosque from the back

Boys being boys

Hassan 2 mosque holds 2,500 worshippers inside and 8,000 in the outer area. That’s Anita in the door way. It shows how massive it is.

The darker side of Casablanca

Medina busyness

Morocco here we come!

Posted on October 28, 2016

Marrakesh. Wow. We arrived exhausted so it was nice to have very short lines and no intense security to deal with. Our transport met us and took us to our riad in the heart of the medina in Marrakesh. Walking from our drop off was like being in a maze. We tried to get our bearings to figure out how to get back out but…..:)

Our host ordered dinner for us of Tajine, pastila and couscous which we shared. It was a great introduction to the aromas and delicious spices of Moroccan food.

After a great night’s sleep and breakfast of sweet mint tea, croissant, boiled egg, cheese, fresh orange juice and lots of bread we set out to discover the medina. Overly friendly locals pointed us in several directions and one convinced us to follow him to the tanneries as it’s “special day”. That was the first of the many scams for money. We told him several times we had none as we were on the way to the ATM when he insisted we follow him. After seeing the smelly tannery, a nice leather shop and apothecary the request for money came. He got quite angry when he realised we SERIOUSLY had no money. Lesson learned. It happened a couple more times but we just shrugged and walked away as we TOLD them, NO MONEY!

We wandered around lost for quite some time until I asked a couple of tourists who looked like they knew where they were going for directions to the square. They were going there so we followed them. They didn’t even ask for money! lol

Apparently there are about 9,500 souks or stalls in the medina. It’s a maze with narrow streets that accommodate, cars, taxis, donkeys, carts, motorcycles….you name it. There’s really nowhere to walk that’s safe. You just have to be constantly aware. The streets are remarkably clean considering all the traffic, garbage, donkey and horse poop.

Sue and Anita were grabbed by a lady who did a pretty henna tattoo on their arms despite telling her several times we had no money. Again, she was pretty irate to find out they were serious.

We made our way back to our room without getting terribly lost. A child helped us find our room in the maze of back streets and even unlocked the door for me when I seemed to be lock challenged. Of course I had to pay him.

The medina at night is completely different again. All kinds of food stalls appeared. Our host had recommended #14 but we were accosted by everyone and his brother to come and eat at theirs. It got to be overwhelming. After enjoying our calamari, fish, bread and dips the waiter asked if we were finished and gave the leftovers to a woman standing there, obviously waiting for scraps. Wow. We all wished we hadn’t tried so hard to finish it.

We wandered some more and could now tell all the harassers that we’d already eaten. A few insisted we were too skinny and could eat again. HAhahaha. We watched a man with a giant vacuum cleaning up garbage and various other folks constantly watering and washing the cobble stone floor.

What do you think?

Lots of pretty lanterns

Poufs for sale…among other things.

Creating beautiful leather pieces, one at a time.

Cats enjoying scraps

Never a dull moment in the medina in Marrakesh

Working with sheepskins

Nuts and dried fruit anyone?

They’re very excited to fix someone’s dinner

At the end of the tour with G Adventures we spent a couple of days in Marrakesh again. That post can be found HERE

A taste of the Netherlands

Posted on October 28, 2016

A long stop over in Amsterdam meant time for exploring so by 7 am we were waiting outside the tourist office where we bought train tickets and a pass for the hop on, hop off canal boat ride. The train station is right at the airport and very easy to navigate. The boat wasn’t as easy to find, especially when you go out of the BACK of the train station rather than the front.

After a delightful, although not nearly long enough, boat ride we found the return train to the airport and sat waiting to go. The train was suddenly quiet. Then the announcement that the train was having issues and needed to be restarted. We could wait or go to 13 a. So we raced for the other train as we had a plane to catch. Thankfully security wasn’t too badly backed up at the airport and we made it with time to spare.

That looks like fun candy

Johannesburg and Pilanesberg National Park

Posted on April 6, 2016

March 27

After spending the morning going for a walk, chatting and reading we caught the baz bus for Johannesburg. Ghandi’s turned out to be a really nice hostel and we met Sean again. He joined us in a walk to a super market and we picked up food for dinner and the next couple days’ breakfasts. The streets along the way were filthy and covered with garbage. Apparently people put it out in bags but others rip them apart looking for “treasures” and leave it strewn everywhere.

March 28^th

Geert picked us up before 7:30 am and headed to the airport to pick up Paul, who also joined us on our trip to Pilanesberg National Park. Sue and I had decided we needed one more game park before heading home.

We spent the whole day driving around the park, looking for animals and enjoying the scenery. Lunch was at a restaurant that overlooked a watering hole where lots of giraffes, wildebeest and wart hogs visited.

Around 5 pm we arrived at the rest camp and went with another guide in an open safari vehicle equipped with lights for a night drive. We saw many more animals including a herd of elephants. One protective mama attempted to charge the vehicle but the guide banged the side of the door and hollered at her to “think about it!” I found that interesting as, if she really THOUGHT about it, she’d know she could very likely win a fight if it came down to it but she backed off.

Back at the rest camp, we enjoyed a nice dinner and headed off to bed in our comfy safari tent. I was nicely asleep when I woke to someone banging on the door. Apparently we hadn’t locked our door. Sheesh. I got up, locked it and when back to sleep….eventually.

5:15 am came early and we headed off again to find animals. It was an exciting day. We followed a pride of 11 lions who ended up crossing the road right in front and behind our vehicle. I looked one lioness right in the eye. Later, at a view point by a watering hole, we saw a black mamba (VERY poisonous snake) and were watching a croc and some lions off in the distance when a big, beautiful male lion strolled down to take a drink.

As we were leaving the park, Geert stopped to ask a couple in a truck what they saw and they were watching a leopard in a tree. Awesome! We had now officially seen the big 5! We probably spent close to an hour watching her, trying to get the perfect photo.

On the way back to Joburg, we stopped at a massive craft market. I had purchased nothing over the last 2 months so needed to pick up some souvenirs. It was painful. I hate shopping and really dislike bargaining. They do hassle you a lot less than they used to but it’s still NOT fun. Everyone shoves stuff at you. No one will give you a price until you spend 10 minutes chatting and then it’s ridiculously high. They all sell pretty much the same stuff. You’re always their first customer or their last……drives me nuts.

Back at Ghandi’s, the fellow greeted us with the key, took us right to our room and went to get our bags. Wow. Since it was dark, we weren’t about to venture out for dinner so decided to order pizza. Renee had arrived as well so she joined us.

At 9pm we were ready for online check in and to choose our seats. Luck is not with us as it appears to be a full flight with no window seats left. We’ll be lucky to get any sleep on the 11 hour overnight flight to London.

Let the “fun” of getting home begin.

Impala…check out the M on his bum

water buck

Nyah nyah

blue wildebeest

Thirsty giraffe

Bet YOU can’t do this with your tongue!

Good morning handsome!

Blue wildebeest

Early morning view of Pilanesburg National park

Black backed jackal

Close encounter with a pride of lions

The king of the jungle having a drink

Shy hippos

Finally got to see a leopard!!

Hard to photograph in a tree

Durban, Bunny chow, multicultural districts and beaches

Posted on April 5, 2016

DURBAN

March 23

We arrived just before 11 pm and the front desk was closed but there was a nice young man to show us to our rooms. The Happy Hippo was a definite improvement over the last hostel as it was clean, there was lots of space and there were no smelly dogs.

In the morning after checking in, we arranged for a walking tour. Renee from the Netherlands joined us so it was the 3 of us and a Zulu man whose name I never did really get. He pointed out election signs to us and seemed very proud to see some of them in Zulu.

We took a local taxi / bus which is a van and very interesting. Generally only black people use them. There’s a driver who weaves in and out of traffic and looks after the music and there’s the collector guy who watches the streets and whistles for customers. There’s lots of sign language and signals going on and everyone seems to know how it works. One time the whistling guy jumped out of the van before it even stopped and there appeared to be a scuffle. 3 women climbed in and he had a bag which he threw up front, acting disgusted. Apparently someone tried to steal it from them and he got it back. We have heard that that’s why there’s not so much crime during the day. All you have to do is holler and someone will help you so thieves rarely get away with it.

Our guide led us through the busy, crowded, crazy streets of Durban and showed us lots of highlights like the Indian side and the white side as well as various churches and a mosque. We hit the markets next which floods the senses with sounds, smells, sights and lots of things going on. We learned a bit about Zulu culture and saw the market with Zulu medicines. A visit to fabric shop was interesting as we chatted with some ladies about women’s rights. Our guide had explained the value of a woman in marriage etc and that only sons carry on the business as if a woman marries, the business becomes her husbands. We had much discussion about that. A couple of the women agreed with us that if the business belongs to the woman, it stays hers if the man leaves. Maybe someday in South Africa too?

Our guide sent us back on our own in the bus with instructions to the whistling dude to drop us off at the grocery store near our hostel. When we worried that he didn’t understand, even a couple of women helped out by telling us they were getting off at the hospital. We’d be next.

The guy grinned when we got off and told us we owed him a cold drink for his help. Renee said “sure, drop in at the hostel later.!”

After buying some groceries we walked back to the hostel where we asked about the bust place to get bunny chow as apparently it’s something one MUST eat in Durban. She directed us to a take out place around the corner and offered to take us there when she got off in a half hour.

The place had a bird that several people came and fed things like a bottle cap full of orange pop. Strange. The Indian man was very nice and we chatted a bit. Bunny chow turned out to be a half loaf of bread with the middle scooped out and filled with chicken curry (bean or mutton if you want). Sue and I devoured it and told the man we were going walking on the beach. He warned us not to use a phone on the beach. They seemed to like stealing them. Hmmm. We took bunny chow back to Renee and opted to go out for an ice cream instead. Why push our luck on the mugging thing?

It’s strange as everyone we’ve met and pretty much anyone we’ve spoken to was friendly, helpful and kind yet EVERYone warned us how dangerous the city is.

Bunny chow

Frances farewell square

Interesting seating in a church

Once a church, now a supermarket

Stained glass windows in the supermarket, once a church

Downtown mosque

Skinning a goat head

Mother in law exterminator?

Zulu doctor

Indian market

Helping Mom out at the market

Zulu medicine

Bridge paintings

Church uniforms for sale

Love the contrast. Fruit and veggies….and KFC.

Magic in the streets

Amphitheatre in Northern Drakensberg & Lesotho

Posted on April 4, 2016

March 24^th Northern Drakensberg

We were off early on the baz bus this morning, driving North, away from the ocean again. By noonish we’d arrived at the Amphitheatre lodge. After hearing about various trips they offered and having some lunch, we settled in to our safari tent. It brought back memories of the overland truck but THIS tent was already up and we didn’t have to take it down.

We spent the rest of the day checking out the beautiful surroundings, went on a short hike and then I set off by myself with my camera for a good, long walk I found many beautiful birds and even a few nice bugs.

March 25^th

We’d decided on the tour of Lesotho as we wanted to see it from the North of the country and left at 7:30am after breakfast in the hostel kitchen of yogurt and granola. We’re splurging on dinners but breakfast was just easy and cheap to do ourselves.

After a 3 hour drive we arrived at the South African border where we got our exit stamp. The Lesotho border office wasn’t operational yet so I guess we entered the country illegally. After driving a big longer on really bad roads, we stopped at a school sponoroed by the lodge and got some info from the Vice Principal. Next we started our hike. Again we were told it’s an “easy hike”. Right. We still found ourselves rock climbing and hugging cliffs. I REALLY wonder how many AFRICANS do these hikes? The Basutu kids must have thought there was something wrong with me as they RUN and play on these paths and I was terrified.

We had lunch on a rock overhang with some ancient cave paintings and headed back to the school, back in the van and to a village where we met a healer. The Sangoma told us how he ended up with the career and what he does. It’s interesting that he works closely with medical doctors.

Next we went to a home where we were to taste the local beer and a traditional lunch. Well. He put two plates of pap and mashed pumpkin leaves on a couple of crates, showed us how to eat it and left us to it. Then he offered us canned Maluti beer (product) of Lesotho for 25 rand each. Not much meeting of the locals happened as we were told would happen.

It was interesting to visit from 2 different areas. From the Sani pass it seemed to be more original Lesotho but from the M… pass it had definitely been influenced more by the outside. Although the lodge claimed they’re the only ones who visit, the kids were wearing modern clothes and there were homes with sateliite dishes as well as several solar panels. We passed some people dancing and singing on the road to a man playing an accordion very badly. All were obviously drunk. Yet at the school they were selling trinkets for money for school fees. Here’s a thought. Spend your booze money on school fees. Maybe I’m too cynical?

Back at the hostel, I stepped in the shower, got wet and shut it off as I’ve grown used to doing here since there IS a water shortage. I heard the girl in the shower stall next to me let the water run, and run….and thought “she’s going to use all the hot water”. Sure enough, I turned it on to rinse off and it was cold. I squealed and she said “I’ve got cold water too. I don’t know why.” She told some one else that she’d only been in there 5 minutes and the hot water ran out. Right More like 15. GRRRR. I SO wanted to yell at her. Despite signs every where some people are just …..not very smart.

Dinner was awesome. The Netherland girls joined us as we enjoyed soup, steak and veggies and chocolate mousse for desert. Nice!

March 26^th;

It’s Saturday of Easter weekend so the Amphitheatre lodge is full with vacationing South Africaners. We knew that and were worried that it would be noisy but there are a lot of families and lots of very friendly people.

We decided to take a vacation day. No way were we doing the waterfall hike no matter how “easy” they said it was. We were REALLY glad we opted out when at dinner, Nikki (22 and very fit) told us it was really hard, included some serious rock climbing and long ladders. .

After a long walk in the morning we settled in for some serious reading and joined Renee. After lunch and more reading, the 3 of us went on another walk where I managed to step on a chameleon. Renee petted him for a while and he started hissing and eventually walked away so I think I angered him more than he was hurt.

Even on our “vacation” day we managed to put in 23,000 steps.

Just around dinner time it started to rain which concerned Sue and I a little as there’s a fairly large hole in our tent and we don’t want all our stuff wet. I hadn’t even THOUGHT about the possibility of snakes coming in till Renee mentioned it. Thanks Renee. 😛

Pretty weaver

School in Lesotho

School toilet in Lesotho. Yes, the concrete was cold on the bum!

Shepherd boy

Classroom in Lesotho

She followed me and must have thought I was nuts as the trail was easy for her…..not so much for me!

Easy part of the trail in the Maluti mountains, Lesotho

Goats bragging about how easy THEY find the trail, Lesotho

School toilet. Yes, the concrete was cold on the bum

Early morning walk reward with sunrise colours

Red bishop. They’re everywhere but really hard to get a nice photo

Another pretty grasshopper

View of the Amphitheatre from our walk

Cleome and mountains.

Zulu healer

Horse and rider, flowers and mountains

Lesotho currency

Fountain in the pool

Angry chameleon

Chameleons are the funniest creatures. I almost stepped on one on the lawn and on the trail

Sunrise colours

Early morning walk reward with sunrise colours

March 24^th Northern Drakensberg

March 25^th

Dinner was awesome. The Netherland girls joined us as we enjoyed soup, steak and veggies and chocolate mousse for desert. Nice!

March 26^th;

Even on our “vacation” day we managed to put in 23,000 steps.

Umzumbe on the Wild Coast

Posted on April 2, 2016

March 19

Apparently it’s the weekend again. We never know what day of the week it is.

We checked into the Mantis and Moon in Umzumbe where they’d “upgraded” us for one night as someone else was in my bed. It was nice, but we had to share a bed and it’s a pain to move rooms. The outdoor bathroom was lovely.

There was wifi but it was really slow and we tried to get somethings done over breakfast. It was a lesson in frustration so I finally phoned Louise at Detour Africa. Eventually we booked our Pilanesberg trip over the phone.

Since we had a couple hours to kill, we wandered around, checking out the hostel which was very interesting. It’s set in a jungle, with a teepee, tree houses and wooden paths everywhere. Then we headed off to the beach for a good walk.

March 20

The weather was kind of icky but we managed to get in a 2 or 3 hour beach walk. For lunch we headed to the Rock cafe as they were having a woman sing Irish songs which sounded nice. We met some others from the hostel and had a coffee with them while waiting for our food. Calamari of course 😉

Back at the hostel we just hung around, chatted with other travellers, did a bit of (VERY SLOW) wifi and joined others for pasta dinner. It was edible.

Rain. Rain. Rain. Yuck.

March 21

I’m really getting tired of places that advertise things they don’t have. The last few places have claimed they had wifi. One no longer has it and the other said they were out of data. Interesting. This place claims speedy wifi. I can’t even open a picture. We’re supposed to be able to get breakfast but they ran out of yogurt yesterday. We told them. The guy went shopping last night. This morning, still no yogurt. I heard them tell new check ins they can get breakfast. Sure, if you like dry cereal. When I asked where else to go, she said there’s a place 7 km down the road. I don’t know how many times we have to tell them we have no car. Never mind the fact that EVERYone says it’s not safe for two white women to walk. Sheesh.

It also advertises hiking nearby. Right. A half hour DRIVE away! We have to pay a tour guide to take us on a hike. No thanks. Oh well. I guess the life of a traveller can’t all be sunshine and roses. We handed in our laundry. Hopefully they don’t lose or ruin our clothes.

We spent the morning walking and getting lost and finding an abandoned monastery on a hill. Again, apparently not safe for us to walk but we took our chances and didn’t get mugged. By then the dry bran flakes were long through our system and we were dying for food so off we walked to the Rock where we thoroughly enjoyed a burger. We asked the lady there how to get to Spar. When we told her we were walking she said “oh, that’s FAR too dangerous for 2 ladies Wait a minute and this man will drive you”. Nice! He needed a few things and we got stuff for breakfast. Since they’d been so kind we decided to go back for dinner rather than cook our own. We didn’t find out his name but he’s an older man from a staunch apartheid family who married a black woman. Interesting!!

We’d seen monkeys playing around in the jungle but this afternoon they decided to have a party on the roof of our room. I don’t know what they were throwing but it made a racket. The rain picked up and we decided to spend the rest of the day reading.

March 22

It rained like crazy all night and finally started to clear shortly after 9 am so we grabbed the opportunity and went on a walk on the beach. Later we went back to the Rock for some “lupper” of calamari and real fried potatoes. My greek salad had beets, carrots, radishes, mushrooms….weirdest greek salad I ever ate but it was good.

Back at the hostel it started raining again so we spent the rest of the day chatting with travellers and reading. Turns out we aren’t the only ones less than impressed with this place. Others were told they could have breakfast but there was no food. There are 3 big dogs that seem to be quite useless and smell bad. They’re allowed everywhere, including the furniture so we’ll only sit on the kitchen chairs. A couple of ladies had a rat in their room. Staff tried to tell her it was a mouse but she said it was the biggest rat she’d ever seen. Aren’t dogs supposed to take care of critters like that?

We’re glad to be leaving but haven’t heard great things about Durban so we’ll see.

Inisde the house on the monastery grounds

Inside the monastery

Monkey business. Playing chicken?

crabs playing on the beach

Sani Pass to Lesotho, like stepping back in time.

Posted on April 1, 2016

Previously https://whereisgrandma.com/2016/03/31/mdumbi-the-wild-coast/

March 16; Lesotho; Peace. Rain. Prosperity.

Today’s adventure was a tour into the Drakensburg mountains and the Kingdom of Lesotho. 8 of us piled into a land rover and headed into the mountains. Matt gave us a LOT of information about the region’s flora, fauna, culture and history as we drove up, up and up the mountains. There were a few stops along the way, one at water fall rumoured to be the fountain of youth which of course I tried. It can’t hurt!

We exited South Africa and entered Lesotho which is 70% mountains, is about the size of Belgium and only has a population of 1.5 million people and at least that many merino sheep and angora goats. We did a short hike to the highest point at 3,420 metres above sea level. Yep. I found myself hiking at altitude AGAIN, even though I said I wouldn’t. I regretted the loss of my jackets and by this point was wearing 4 t-shirts and a long sleeved shirt.

I learned a LOT about Lesotho and enjoyed many interesting conversations about how, and IF, we should help the poor. The discussions on South Africa politics were interesting as well. It’s always enlightening to hear how citizens view their own country’s issues. We noted that in the western world’s effort to “help” those less fortunate, we’ve created a begging type attitude. Many believe we’ve got lots of money and that it’s easy to get. After all, we can travel far away and many people just “throw” money at them. They don’t differentiate between those who stay at luxury resorts and those of us who backpack. We’ve ALL got more money than they do. One also made a point that there is nothing wrong with the way they live. What makes our lifestyle “better” than theirs? We also tend to believe that others WANT a lifestyle like ours. Lots of philosophical discussions happen on these trips!

After stopping for a nice, warm mulled wine at the highest pub in Africa, we headed back down the mountain, stopping occasionally in the rain to take a photo when there was a break in the clouds.

Dinner at the hostel was enjoyed later with the nice company of a young Australian couple and a woman from the Netherlands. Our

March 17

Armed with maps and a KZN nature conservation pass we set off to hike the in the Drakensberg mountains. We chose a 2-3 hike as we have a tendency to get lost so figured it would be more like 4 or 5.. Simone told us it was an easy hike and if we got lost on this one, we shouldn’t be hiking. Uh oh.

It started off nice. We crossed a lovely stream and sauntered through a cool, damp forest then out onto a nice grassy plain. Then we went up. It was okay at first but got tougher. 45 minutes of straight up. No guardrails, ropes, trees, or anything to hold on to and cliff right beside the path most of the time. Next a narrow path next to a cliff and finally a plateau. At the pile of stones we reviewed the map and set off to find the yellow pool. We never found the path intersection mentioned on the map and, despite walking for another hour or so, never found the yellow pool. Maybe it dried up.

The climb back down the mountain was a little easier than the upward route but my toes didn’t like it much. At the bottom we were met with a barbed wire fence. After walking along it for a bit, Sue hollered at a fellow on the road and asked if he knew where there was a hole. He pointed back in the direction we’d come from. Typical.

Across the road we entered reception at the Sani Pass Hotel (where people with more money than us stay) and asked if we could walk to the water fall. A nice young man showed us where to go and we walked some more. We sat for a bit in the shade, drank my apple juice and watched the thundering cascade, then headed back to the hostel. On the way we saw a troop of baboons cross the road. They’re pretty amusing to watch.

Hot, sticky, and really tired of shoes, we got our swim suits on and jumped into the VERY refreshing pool. THAT felt awesome!

By that time it was 4 pm and we were starving so we went to the cafe and enjoyed some smoked trout and a salad; enough to take the edge off the hunger but not spoil us for 6:30 pm dinner which we couldn’t miss as they were having chocolate cake for dessert. 😀

We grabbed our books and I put the zoom lens on the camera to take photos of the beautiful birds I’d seen while swimming. I got photos but we never opened the books. Chatting with other travellers is way more fun.

Again, we enjoyed dinner with new friends where we all shared what we’d done that day. 5 hours of hiking and 24,000 steps. Not bad. The only people we saw on the hike were some workers who went past us. No other hikers around. Just Sue and I and the mountains. Beautiful!

March 18

After a 2 hour morning hike we got out the books and spent a couple of hours chilling by the pool; me in the sun and Sue in the shade. I jumped in the pool a few times, walked around with the camera trying to capture the beautiful birds and even read a bit.

Even though we tried to convince the shuttle driver the bus would be late, he insisted on leaving at 2:30 pm. We dawdled but still left by 3 pm. ON the way he stopped so we could take pictures of a dead cow being demolished by cape vultures and we still arrived way too early. At 4:30 pm we were in Wimpy’s waiting for the bus which, as predicted, was late. At least we got to catch up on some internet and eat dinner before the bus finally arrived at 7:30pm

Out post on the way to Lesotho where trade still happens.

Going up the Sani pass

View on the road up to Lesotho

Ice rat

Wearing their best blankets.

Temporary home for shepherds with coral for sheep when they’re far from home.

View from the highest point in Lesotho

Jumping for joy at the highest point in Lesotho.

Shepherd boys wear a blanket with just underwear underneath so they don’t ruin their clothes

Dinner tonight?

Baking bread

Even the little ones wear wool blankets.

Highest pub in Africa 🙂

Tough walk up here but the view was worth it

Africa boasts some of the most beautiful bugs!

Cape vultures feasting on a dead cow

Cape vulture in flight

	Jodi on …
	Anonymous on …
	Jodi on Adventuring Through Kazakhstan…
	mikeosbornphoto on Adventuring Through Kazakhstan…
	Jodi on Turkmenistan Adventures: From…

Where in the world is Jodi?

Adventure travel for the young at heart. I haven't been everywhere but it's on my list!

Author Archives: Jodi

9,400 Alleys of FEZ, Morocco

Roman ruins of Volubilis and on to Meknes

Chefchaouen, the blue city

Tangiers; a Sea, an ocean and a strait

Casablanca. That is all.

Casablanca is a busy, smelly city with a LOT of traffic. At one point we must have looked lost as a lady stopped and asked if she could help us find something so we asked her about a nice place to eat. Another kind local. And they say Moroccans aren’t friendly? We’ve managed to find several!

All that getting lost accounted for about 30,000 steps and 22 km. It was a great day!

Morocco here we come!

A taste of the Netherlands

Johannesburg and Pilanesberg National Park

Durban, Bunny chow, multicultural districts and beaches

Amphitheatre in Northern Drakensberg & Lesotho

Umzumbe on the Wild Coast

Sani Pass to Lesotho, like stepping back in time.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Casablanca is a busy, smelly city with a LOT of traffic. At one point we must have looked lost as a lady stopped and asked if she could help us find something so we asked her about a nice place to eat. Another kind local. And they say Moroccans aren’t friendly? We’ve managed to find several!

All that getting lost accounted for about 30,000 steps and 22 km. It was a great day!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: