Skip to content
Permalink
main
Switch branches/tags

web-hack-mirror/mirror/2000/01/23/www.malealea.co.ls/malealea history.htm

Go to file
 
 
Cannot retrieve contributors at this time
458 lines (452 sloc) 31.4 KB
Raw Blame
Open in GitHub Desktop
<html>
<head>
<meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 4.0">
<meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document">
<title>HISTORY OF MALEALEA LODGE</title>
</head>
<body background="WB00516_.gif">
<p align="center"><img border="0" src="Malealea_Lodge.gif" width="503" height="40"></p>
<p align="center"><img border="0" src="malealea_pony_trekking_centre.gif" width="355" height="40"></p>
<div align="center">
<center>
<table border="0" width="90%">
<tr>
<td width="100%"><b>
<p align="center"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000080" size="6">THE
HISTORY
OF&nbsp;<br>
MALEALEA LODGE</font></b></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3"><b>Merwyn Bosworth Smith, founder
of Malealea Trading Store</b>, was born at Harrow School, England in 1878.
His father was Assistant Master there for 37 years. Merwyn had five
brothers and three sisters. All his brothers</font> <font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">were
educated at Harrow, but Merwyn went to Rugby, where he excelled at rugby
and athletics. He was also a brilliant scholar, writing Latin prose at
14 years old. On leaving school he went to Oxford University.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">In about 1898 he came to South
Africa and taught/coached rugby at Bishops. This was too tame for him,
so he went to try his hand on the Diamond Diggings at Lichtenberg, where
he did not have much luck. He decided to join the B.S.A.P. in Rhodesia
(Zimbabwe), where he said he did not do much police work, as he played
rugby most of the time.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">At the outbreak of the Boer
War, he returned and joined the Dorset Regiment and served throughout
the war. At the end of the war, he went to Maseru to visit his brother,
Reginald, who had joined the Colonial Service and had been sent to
Basutoland as Government Secretary.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">Merwyn was fascinated by the
country and spent months riding around the country, shooting for the
pot, as he went along. One of the places he camped at, was Malealea. He
fell in love with the place and decided to open a Trading Station there.
He had to return to England to get permission, and was assisted by some
of his school companions, who were by now in high places. On returning
to Malealea he started in a tent, first building the store and sheds and
then starting on the house, which was built of cut stone and under
thatch. A swimming pool, covered by thatch, was also built, and a tennis
court. As Merwyn was a fanatic for bridge and billiards he had a
billiard table brought to Malealea by ox-wagon, as were all the building
materials. The big verandah had all his shooting trophies on the walls.
Many also hung in the Bloemfontein and Rand Clubs. The lounge and
billiard rooms were wood panelled. The lounge was a replica of the
lounge at Binghams Melcon Dorset, which was the family house, when his
father retired from Harrow.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">He was well established, when
the 1914 - 1918 war broke out. He returned to England and again joined
the Dorset Regiment, who he served with throughout the war. He developed
&quot;Trench Leg&quot;, which was a problem for the rest of his life.
After the war he returned to Malealea and in 1919 got married. These
were golden years. Trade flourished and they used to go on shooting
safaris in Rhodesia, Caprivi Strip and the Zambezi Valley, - on one
occasion, taking Basotho Ponies with them. They also had frequent trips
to England to visit his family. They entertained a lot at Malealea and
used to ride to Qaba to play tennis with his great friend, Jarvis.
Merwyn's wife had a cheetah as a pet, but it had a depressing effect on
trade, so was given to the Johannesburg Zoo!!!</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">The depression years nearly put
Malealea out of business, but a Johannesburg friend gave Merwyn 12,000
pound bond to tide him over. many of the local Basotho had credit to buy
food during this period and they never forgot &quot;MOFANA&quot; for
this. He was called &quot;MOFANA&quot;, because when he first arrived he
spoke &quot;Fanagalo&quot;. Later he spoke Sesotho fluently.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">The war years brought
prosperity, which continued to his death in 1951. During the war R.A.F.
pupil pilots were entertained at Malealea. Pay for serving Basotho in
the army was paid out to local families at Malealea. Merwyn arranged
that on this day the R.A.F. sent a plane over Malealea to do a few
acrobatics and Victory Rolls. At the end of the war, he had name plates
made with the name and rank number of all the Basotho, who had fallen in
the war. Oak trees from Malealea were planted at the police camp in
Maseru and the idea was that each oak tree would have one of the name
plates nailed to it.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">During and after the war he had
two partners, first Scholl, then Crooks. He also had The Falls Store at
Maletsunyane, but sold this to Frasers at the end of the war. All
supplies went up by pack horse and the mohair, wool and wheat used to
come to Malealea in big pack pony trains, and then he classed, graded
and sent it off by transport to Rail Head Wepener.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">During the last years of
Mervyn's life, he used to spend the winter months on the Zambezi at a
Shooting Lodge he built. He had rondavels and a motor boat called
&quot;Queen Elizabeth&quot;. At this stage his one car was called
&quot;George&quot; and the other &quot;Elizabeth&quot;. He used to go up
to Johannesburg for a week just to play Bridge.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">All his life he had a passion
for road-making and had to make the road from the &quot;Gates of
Paradise&quot; to Malealea, to get building supplies to Malealea. In his
latter years he used to set off with labourers, spades, picks and
wheelbarrows to repair the road. One corner was known as &quot;Tickey
Draai&quot; and another as &quot;Sixpenny Draai&quot;. The original
wording at the &quot;neck&quot; as he called it, was: &quot;Wayfarer
Pause Behold The Gates of Paradise&quot;. He always did this when he
came home to Malealea.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">His other passion was letter
writing. He used to write to &quot;The Friend&quot; newspaper in
Bloemfontein entitled &quot;Basutoland from within&quot;, which covered
every subject from Incorporation in the Union to strip roads for
Basutoland on the Rhodesian Model.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">During the Royal Visit the King
and Queen were to have visited Malealea, but only the rest of the Royal
Party came for a luncheon. The well known BBC announcer Wynfred Vaughn
Thomas gave a report of the visit in one of his BBC reports. Mervyn
attended all the functions in Maseru and he proudly wore his war medals
at the Ex Service Mens Parade. The King stopped to speak to him and
said, &quot;I see you served in the SA War, as well as 1914-1918&quot;.
To which Mervyn replied, &quot;No Your Majesty, not the SA War, I served
in the Boer War&quot;. A cousin of Mervyn's was one of the Ladies in
Waiting to the Queen, so he got a few `behind the scenes' stories of the
tour.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">Mervyn died suddenly in January
1950 and was buried in the garden, by the Bishop of Basutoland. He had
no headstone as Malealea is his memorial. Malealea was left in trust to
his son, Anthony, but his partner, Crooks, had an option to purchase
under the partnership agreement. After a long and expensive court action
in the Supreme Court, it was ruled that the Trust Deed was not valid,
because it had not been initialled on one page and Crooks exercised his
option to purchase.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">Soon after Crooks moved into
the big house from the Cottage, the big house burnt down. There is only
a bird bath, built out of stone, with ANNO VIC, chiselled around the
top, that remains from the original house. Mervyn had this bird bath
built at the end of the war &quot;Year of Victory&quot;.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">Mervyn always maintained that
the first thing a person saw, when visiting a Trading Station in
Basutoland, was the &quot;Long Drop or Kleinhuisie&quot;. He built his,
hidden away inside the bank below the house and had a beautiful view of
the Thaba Putsoa range of mountains to gaze upon, in complete privacy.
It has now been restored.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">Many tales were told by
Government Officials, Police, Tourists, who used to stay over at
Malealea, before trekking into the mountains. They all enjoyed great
hospitality at Malealea and if they played Bridge and Billiards, even
more so. Snooker was only tolerated for Ladies. The leather bound
billiard score books also stand as a diary for important happenings,
such as bomb raids over Germany, The Invasion, Visits by Important
People etc.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">Stories about Mervyn begin with
how he used to ride to Maseru of Mafeteng on a pony to play rugby, with
an alarm clock tied around his neck, which he would set for half hours
ahead, in case he dozed off and could wake up to check if the pony was
still on course. He is reputed to have galloped down the gorge into the
Ribaneng River, and that path was always known as &quot;Mervyn's
Ladder&quot;.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">AFTER A WILD PARTY IN
BLOEMFONTEIN, Mervyn and his friends decided to go back to Malealea to
continue the party. A stranger, they had met, came along as well. In the
car he was lolling to one side, then to the other side, but no one took
any notice of him as they thought he was drunk. On arrival it was found
he was DEAD !!! A wake lasting a few days was held and he lay inside on
the Billiard Table and was duly buried under the Cherry Trees. Mervyn
always referred to the grave as &quot;The Stranger's Grave&quot;.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">An extract from Kate Cretchley&#146;s
version of the Stranger&#146;s death! &quot; I doubt it was the fact that
the hitchhiker was DOA when Mervyn and his pals reached the mountain
station of Malealea after a fairly lively weekend in Bloemfontein. I
also doubt that it caused much of a headache when they stowed the old
guy under the snooker table and went ahead with the intended game.
However, it must have been a bit annoying to have been awoken by the
scream of the early rising housemaid who found the old boy rather
difficult to rouse, even when the best Malealea coffee was offered. A
wake was held lasting some several days to see the dear departed on his
way to the pearly gates, during which time he lay in state on the
snooker table, and the grave of this total stranger still can be seen
not twenty yards away from that of old Mervyn Smith who, out of the
kindness of his heart, brought the old man to die in peace and
tranquillity of Malealea, over fifty years ago.&quot;</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">Mervyn and his friend, Kenneth
Nolan, were also known to have ridden through the Wepener Hotel on their
&quot;Trusting Steeds&quot; !</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3"><b>Keith Jandrell bought Malealea
in 1961</b> from Norman Crooks. Various managers lived at Malealea operating
the trading station. An airstrip was built at Malealea and the Jandrell
family visited Malealea regularly for week-ends and holidays.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3"><b>Mick &amp; Di Jones bought
Malealea in December, 1986.</b> The idea was to start</font> <font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">a
very casual lodge and continue with the Trading Station. The Trading
Station burnt down on 6th March, 1987 due to a gas deep freeze. As the
floors, walls &amp; ceilings were all wood, the shop went up in flames
within minutes. Mick was awakened in the early hours of the morning with
a comment by the night watchman &quot;There seems to be a small problem
at the shop!!!&quot;</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">An enormous steel structure was
erected for the Trading Station - (nicknamed by Simon Fourie, The
Malealea Emporium.) Over the years the Trading Station has declined and
the lodge has grown from 10 to 60 beds. The shop was made smaller and
the space was used to build Bacpackers Accommodation, a games room, a
diningroom &amp; kitchen. Over the years, Nick King, an Australian
friend, after driving overland trips from London to Harare, has spent a
couple of months at Malealea renovating the lodge.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">Pony Trekking was started at
Malealea in February, 1991. Di, Caroline, James &amp; Sonja pony trekked
into the mountains on a 6 day recce trip with Simon Mokala, now one of
the main pony trekking guides for the various overnight treks. Cultural
Tourism has developed at Malealea.</font></p>
<b>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><font size="4" color="#008000"><font FACE="Wingdings">J</font><font FACE="Times New Roman">
GUIDES &amp; HORSES ARE HIRED FROM THE LOCAL BASOTHO PEOPLE FOR THE PONY
TREKKING.&nbsp; </font></font></p>
<p></b><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">A Pony
Trekking Association has been formed, a committee is elected and a
percentage of the income for trekking is kept in a fund. This is used to
buy equipment for the association, for example saddlery, bridles, saddle
blankets, etc. In the meantime to get the trekking on its way, the horse
owners use their own saddlery until stocks build up over the years. We
hand the bookings to the association every week and they organize which
horses and guides take the treks. Horse Owners have realized the
importance of strong and healthy horses. One day a German Tour Operator
wanted to have a look at the horses used for the trekking. We asked a
Basotho Guide to bring his best horse. Well when we went to have a look
at it, to us it was the scruffiest, untidiest looking horse. On
questioning the guide, he informed us that &quot;Sister&quot; was their
best and strongest horse for getting up the mountain passes. We have
since had reports from clients that &quot;Sister&quot; is indeed the
best horse they have ridden.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">Guides are learning to
communicate and speak broken English with their visitors. One particular
bright young guide often asks the clients the meanings of words he does
not understand and immediately tries to use the words in further
conversations. One couple were so pleased with their trek, they took
their guide to the Lesotho Sun for lunch. This was an experience of a
lifetime for someone who previously had only been herding cattle &amp;
sheep. There are a quite a few young &amp; older guides who have managed
to build their own houses from income received for guiding and hiring
out their horses. Horses arrive from all directions and eventually,
almost on time, the treks set off: - Clients, Pack Horses and Guides
into the distant mountains. &quot;Amongst this confusion of horses there
seems to be some sort of organized chaos,&quot; mused a client.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">Within the first half hour of
the pony trek, nerves are tested by going down the gorge to the
Makhaleng river. One way of doing it, it is said is to &quot;Close your
eyes, hold tightly onto your horse and pretend not to hear the rocks
rolling down the mountainside.&quot; But you needn&#146;t be worried, the
Guides are excellent in the way they coax the horses and nervous clients
down the gorge and across river.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">En route to the remote villages
you come across magnificent scenery and are often lucky enough to come
across various activities,</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">a) Like boys preparing for
initiation school.<br>
b) Bali Girls and<br>
c) A Sangoma throwing her
bones.<br>
d) It is etiquette for the
guides to introduce the visitors the chiefs of the various villages and
to inform them of their destination. As the areas are really remote, the
children are curious to see the visitors. It is as if the circus has
come to town!!!<br>
e) Local traditions are
explained to visitors as they pass by villages. When passing a certain
place, (generally between two hills) where there is a heap of small
stones piled together, one should pick up another stone alongside the
path, spit on it and throw it on the heap. This is an omen of good luck
and good eating along the journey and at the destination. Common
mountains of Sefikeng and Sefikaneng derived their names from such big
heaps made there in olden times.</font></p>
<b>
<p><font size="4" color="#008000"><font FACE="Wingdings">J</font><font FACE="Times New Roman">
BASOTHO HUTS HIRED FROM THE VILLAGES</font></font></b><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="4" color="#008000">
</font><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">
in really remote areas of Lesotho. Half the accommodation fee is paid to
the owner of the hut and the balance is kept in a fund for buying
equipment for old and new huts opening as the trekking gets busier. The
huts at this stage are equipped with mattresses on the floor, gas
cookers, very basic pots &amp; pans and a bucket of water.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">Arriving at the hut in the late
afternoon, in time to see the herdboys returning with the cattle &amp;
sheep, which are kept in the kraal nearby the huts where you stay.
Firewood is scarce on the high mountain ranges, so fire is made from
scrub and dried out cow-dung. The meals are prepared in large
three-legged black pots.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">The children often sing for
visitors in the evenings and are rewarded. This is still spontaneous and
just seems to happen without any rehearsals. Come morning, the sounds of
the cocks crowing, donkeys braying, cows mooing and pigs grunting gently
wakes you up. No chance of a late morning sleep, but the spectacular
sunrise is more than enough compensation for this sacrifice.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">There are many stories of
delightful experiences in the villages. There is the story of the hen
sitting on her eggs in the window-sill of a hut. Another group later
reported that the chicks and hen still occupied the window-sill. Another
group told with great relish of the chief who offered them home-made
beer from a large black drum. Suddenly the donkey came along and also
had a drink of beer from the same drum!!!</font></p>
<b>
<p><font size="4" color="#008000"><font FACE="Wingdings">J</font><font FACE="Times New Roman">
BASOTHO CHILDREN ARE ENCOURAGED TO TAKE CLIENTS ON HIKES.</font></font></b><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">
T</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">
here are many places of interest at the various villages and for a
small fee, visitors will be guided by the local villagers to these
sights. Back at base camp, Basotho children are encouraged to take
clients on short hikes to Gorges, Bushman Paintings Etc, so gaining
experience to be future overnight trekking guides. Staying at the
different villages affords an extra income for the villagers and we have
feedback that they enjoy hosting the visitors.</font></p>
<b>
<p><font color="#008000" size="4"><font FACE="Wingdings">J</font><font FACE="Times New Roman">
BASOTHO PEOPLE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY OF GROWING AND COOKING THEIR OWN
FOOD FOR RESALE TO VISITORS</font></font></p>
</b>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">So for example will different
coloured plastic bags attached to a pole outside the huts indicate
various products for sale. Catering for Tourism is developing as the
Basotho people have the opportunity of growing and cooking their own
food for resale to visitors.</font></p>
<b>
<p><font size="4" color="#008000"><font FACE="Wingdings">J</font><font FACE="Times New Roman">
AD HOC EXPERIENCES IN REMOTE AREAS:</font></font></p>
</b>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">For guests not wanting to pony
trek, there are various other forms of encouraging local tourism by
making use of local transport:</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">1) There is hiking in the
company of innovative inventors,<br>
2) Coming in on wings and a prayer,<br>
3) In Style,<br>
4) An environmental friendly merc or<br>
5) Rowing down the river.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">A particularly pleasant
experience is the friendliness and helpfulness of the Basotho people.
There is the story of the family whose car broke down in a remote area.
A Basotho man took them into their village and then gave them a lift to
Maseru in his &quot;Clapped out Bakkie&quot;. He was most informative
about daily happenings and culture in the villages and turned out to be
a talented tour guide. This was actually the highlight of the family&#146;s
stay in Lesotho. From Maseru they then hired a local taxi back to the
lodge late that night and again found the taxi owner to be a natural
tour operator.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">The Keg Group tells of their
delightful and unexpected pleasure when doing a pub crawl in the village
shebeens. The Basotho Shebeens were so welcoming and honoured that our
guests were visiting them, they wanted to kill a sheep there and then
and great cultural interaction took place. The bar was then named
&quot;The Keg &amp; Pere&quot;, which is the Sesotho name for Horse.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">I was once photographing a
herdboy with his sheep &amp; goats. I jokingly said to him, &quot;Please
make your goats move to another area.&quot; With that he took out his
&quot;Basotho Leseba&quot; (kind of a flute), whistled and played a
tune. The goats were directed to where we wanted them to go.</font></p>
<font FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="1"></font>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">While I was on the original 6
day recce trip with two friends and a Basotho Guide, Tseliso, we must
have set off in one of the highest rainfall seasons in Lesotho. On the
third day, while riding in three hours of solid rain to our next hut
destination, we all decided we had had enough and asked Tseliso if we
could get back a day earlier. He shook his head and said there was no
way and the horses plodded along. I then said to Tseliso &quot; How
about if we pay you for a 6 day trek, but we get home in 5 days!!!&quot;
Well from that moment the horses just took off and we got home a day
earlier. On the trek Chief Puli sent us a tray of tea in his best enamel
tea pot and mugs, decorated with flowers. His village is called &quot;Sekoting
sa lifarike&quot; (which means, &quot;The trough which the pigs
dug,&quot; as this valley is surrounded by a magnificent ring of
mountains,)</font></p>
<p><b><font size="4" color="#008000"><font FACE="Wingdings">J</font><font FACE="Times New Roman">
LINKING CONFERENCES WITH CULTURAL TOURISM.</font></font></b></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">WHY DO ORGANIZATIONS ARRANGE
CONFERENCES IN FOREIGN ENVIRONMENTS ?</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">The Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho
may be rough and tough, but it is at the same time as gentle as a spring
flower, soft as the summer grass covering the undulating hills,
refreshing as a sparkling mountain stream in autumn and awesome and
austere as a winter landscape. Whatever your choice of climate may be,
Lesotho can provide. Of particular value is the quiet nearness of nature
offering the overworked and over stressed a tranquility nowhere else to
be equaled. This makes Lesotho the ideal venue for conferences, because
it forces people to leave behind their day to day routines so
restricting for creative and innovative thinking. People caught in ruts
are so busy fighting for their daily survival in competitive
environments that they can&#146;t afford to risk replacing old ideas with
new ones for fear of failure. Trekking in Lesotho restores those long
forgotten feelings of daring and adventure.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">WHAT MAKES LESOTHO SO
DIFFERENT?</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">Well take those same life weary
people and throw them into the cultural environments and experiences of
a Lesotho Trek and they cannot but open their eyes and minds to the
people around them, who behave differently, have different needs,
priorities and goals in completely different circumstances. Yet the
observer is surprised to find that the challenges are the same:
Survival: Profit: Competition: &amp; Quality of Life.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">The discovery of this awareness
inadvertently opens the eyes and suddenly, standing the clear crisp dawn
you find that you are beginning to think differently. While you marvel
at the quaintness of the people around you, you find that you are
actually learning from them. Of course, facing the adventures of a trek
is excellent for team building. All in all, there will be times when a
pony trek in Lesotho, may force you to close your eyes and there will be
times when it will open your eyes. Either way you return to your own
environment with a greater energy and a new outlook on life.&nbsp;</font></p>
<p align="center"><b><i><font color="#FF0000" face="Times New Roman" size="4"> KHOTSO, PULA,
NALA</font><font color="#FF0000" FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">. -</font></i><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">-&nbsp;
<font color="#000080">PEACE,
RAIN &amp; PROSPERITY </font> -&nbsp;</font></b></p>
<b>
<p align="center"><i><font color="#FF0000" face="Times New Roman" size="4">KEA LEBOHA!
</font></i><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3"> - <font color="#000080"> THANK-YOU!</font></font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">&quot;AN EXTRACT OF A TREK
REPORT, OCTOBER 1991, INDICATING THE RESPONSIBILITY THE GUIDES HAVE ON
THESE PARTICULAR TREKS&quot;</font></b><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">
Rough, tough and very, very different is this &quot;Roof of Africa&quot;
trek into the Lesotho mountains. It must be hiking as it was many years
ago - no detailed trail maps, no laid out trails with markers. no log
cabins with toilet and braai facilities. Instead your guide (on pony)
obtains the frequent help of the villagers as to the best way up the
mountainsides, or across the many river crossings, and then negotiates,
on your behalf, with the local chief for a suitable hut for that
particular overnight stay !!! Plenty of drinking water is supplied, and
even cleaning the mud off your hiking boots is included in the princely
sum of R15.00 per person !!!!</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">There is no need to cater down
to the last dehydrated pea, as the other Basotho Bay which accompanies
the group is our pack-horse. It carries huge leather panniers into which
are packed your food supplies, clothing and all other
&quot;MEDICINAL&quot; requirements for the trek. The Pack Horse amazes
all by the remarkable feats it performs in defying the laws of gravity
on the many treacherous ascents and descents.</font></p>
<p><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3">The &quot;Glamour&quot; of the
trek lies in the innumerable mountain peaks, valleys, waterfalls,
streams and rivers which are relatively unspoilt by mankind and mot
least of all the very friendly locals. Lesotho is truly a country of
water which is evident everywhere. We were unfortunate to be there
during the highest rainfall recorded in the past 100 years !!! The last
two days were a race to beat the fast rising rivers. Our crossing of the
Makhaleng River could only be achieved by boat. Not so lucky for the
horses who had to swim across the raging river. After a hard swim they
arrived on the other side apparently no worse for wear as they began
grazing almost immediately!!! We safely made our way to the comfort of
the Malealea Lodge, which was our base, and left our rural guide in
wonderment as to why these crazy hikers pushed on through the pouring
rain, rather than rest up in a mountain hut and take another week or two
to complete the trek when the weather cleared!!! At the end of it all
the question is - Is it worth it? The answer is a very definite YES!!!
The long treks are not recommended for the faint-hearted - but then the
trail can be tailored for your individual requirements.</font></p>
<p align="center"><a href="Default.htm">Return to Malealea Home Page</a>
<p>&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
</table>
</center>
</div>
</body>
</html>