Peace Corps Post Script: Ramabanta to Semongkong the old fashioned way

I have this "to-do" list that's completely non-work related. I've managed to cross off most of the big things by now, including visiting Durban, checking out Amber's village in the north, and playing/instigating a game of water balloons with the kids in Ha Nkesi. And most recently, Pam and Kjessie came up to Ramabanta to help me with another item: hiking from my village to Semongkong. A two day trek covering over 20 miles -- we ended with two nights of chilling in Semongkong with the three volunteers there and our country director, Ted Mooney, who was visiting the boys' sites.

Of course whenever we visit we ask each other: "What can I bring you from town on my way?" My answer (always): "FRUIT." (Sometimes cheese and chocolate, too). So when Pam and Kj showed with a sizable watermelon 16 hours before our departure I was beaten. Yet... we ate all of it before our departure the next grey morning.

On up. The first day was short -- 4 hours to the village where we would sleep for the night, Ha Mphephe. Because the trail is a favorite for "motor bikers" (dirt bikes and quads) from South Africa who visit Lesotho throughout the year, we followed graffiti as we climbed out of the Ramabanta river valley... Lovely.

And on our way we saw other travelers with their own luggage.

After arriving we found accommodation -- not with the chief as I had arranged by letter (via a friend who knew someone who worked for the chief up there, love our message relay system), but with a local village health worker who recognized me as we searched for "plan B" lodging. The chief was MIA that day, but 'Me Masechabasekae (harder to say than it looks, actually) graciously took us in on her small family compound, fed us, and sheltered us for the night. Our sweaty clothes decorated the yard after we explored the tiny, remote village. I fulfilled my promise to make the hike work related by talking to Masechabasekae about her job as a village health worker there and visiting her beautiful vegetable garden.

Pam was the first to notice that the village was lacking an essential component; pit latrines. I asked Masechabasekae and she had 2 local girls who weren't in school ("Why?" I ask, "Just because," they tell me with shrugs) walk us to the local primary school to use the long-drops there. We enjoyed the convenience of a pee bucket very much that evening. Pit latrines are way more common in the more accessible areas but become less and less so as you walk away from any sort of main road. Pam knows this living in a remote mountain area of Lesotho and now I do, too.

The next morning we rose early, ate a breakfast of pone (corn on the cob), and headed out after taking a photo with our hostess. And the views we were rewarded as we climbed the infamous "Baboon's Pass" were spectacular in the chilly light. Thaba Putsoa ("Blue Mountain") rose to our left at 3100 meters as we finished the last of our tough climbs for the day and looked forward to an easy day of trekking the ridges 'till we reached Semongkong 24 km later.

Not so easy. We didn't really have a map -- just a rough sketch and a compass was all we needed considering how clear the trail is. But, of course, it split in one place and the route we didn't want was the one we ended up on. It could have been worse since the unwanted path took us to the main road to Semongkong. By the time we realized that we'd missed a turn it seemed too far to retreat. That combined with the dread of passing a long string of herd boy huts (herd boys are trouble out here, especially for women and we avoided interacting with them or crossing their paths any more than necessary) meant that we simply gave in and took the road. It's far to long to walk it into Semongkong in one day being less direct than the path we'd been on, so we figured we'd walk and hitch our way in. Kj said "I believe everything happens for a reason and maybe this is keeping us from running into trouble with the herd boys." Pam said "We could be in Semongkong by lunch now and get a plate." A 'plate' is a plate of food; papa (maize meal), nama (meat), and greens for R20. We were all happy with route B. The one hitch we found, however, was in the back of a closed cattle truck. Sans cattle, but miserable, bumpy, and nauseating regardless. I'd check that off my to-do list but it was never on it to begin with. I'd have taken walking at night with a gaggle of herd boys over saving that short distance in the truck.

So we arrived in Semongkong, found food, and hit the Semongkong lodge for a shower before heading to Nick's for a tasty dinner from his garden veggies. The next day, Nick, Ro, Robbie and Ted did the 200m "ab sail" (repel in US jargon) down the Maletsunyane water fall. We watched (R650 was out of my budget for the trip and has been every time I visit) and enjoyed drinks and another homemade PCV meal with the survivors after.