Final 1040 submitted and processed
Friday, September 28th, 2007Sept 23/07
Just realized that even though we have no access to internet, we can still log in our experiences and just post them when we are connected…..So I am sitting here in our living room, listening to the winds outside whip by and the BBC talk about how 18 countries in Africa have just flooded, many in a state of emergency. I am also smelling and sipping dirt tea. I’ll back up a bit. Yesterday we went on an absolutely FANSTASTIC adventure. I’ll let Sam write about that though. We had a local man with us, who showed us some roots for – and I quote – “low blood.” Sam seems to think this means anemia. I’m not so convinced. We used the root of this tiny little green plant and boiled it up in some tea. The entire place stinks now. Don’t worry Dad, at least we are in a safe place in case we end up high….. so, we can’t open the windows to let out the stench because there is a massive windstorm going on outside. Funny too, cause the windy season is supposed to be over. We have been enjoying some great weather lately. Thankfully we had no major plans today (except doing laundry, which desperately needs to be done. My clothes are hanging on a line in our spare bedroom, with the windows open, dust and dirt flowing in, and the heat cranked.) Seems like we’ve watched, in the past 24 hours, more than a few National Geographic programs on earthquakes, tidal waves, volcano eruptions and other natural disasters. Lovely, eh? I woke up from my after-breakfast nap dreaming of looking out of the window, realizing we were in a tornado, and just being thankful that I had not put my clothes on the line. Its all about priorities, right?. Sam’s just taking a video now so you can get an idea of the windstorms. It seems to be getting worse. This morning we walked to breakfast, and I only saw one roof ripped off a house.
We’ve also managed to become avid Indian Cricket fans in the last few days. Anybody going to watch the World Twenty-20 Championship game between India and Pakistan? Some Germans taught us how the game works, and I think we’ve done a fairly good job of picking up a lot of it on our own. Yuvraj Singh is our man. So….that is about it for now. Just getting mentally prepped to go to India. Best wishes to everyone, hoping that you are all “mentally uncluttered” (-Ravi, Cricket broadcaster, Durban, South Africa).
OK, before I write about yesterday I need to explain a few important facts I have learned in the past few weeks. Firstly NEVER, and I repeat NEVER accidentally approach a large group of herd boys in the mountains, especially if they are fighting each other with sticks. If by chance you do this, be prepared to get chased off by no less then three stick wielding, balaclava wearing, Sesotho yelling, testosterone laden man-children. Secondly, the fastest way to get Devi to run down a mountain is to accidentally approach a large group of herd boys in the mountains.
Yesterday started off great, we had met a local canoe taxi driver earlier in the week, while modeling for the Lesotho Tourism Ministry. He agreed to taxi us across the reservoir, so we could access an incredible ridge line that I had been drooling over since we got here. Considering ‘Africa time’ is fully embraced by the Basotho, we were pleasantly surprised that he was only 15mins late. We met our self-appointed local guide Ntseke on the other side of the reservoir and the hike was on. I was impressed with Ntseke’s appearance, he was dressed as if he were ready to go out for an evening of dinner, drinks and dancing, although the intent of the day was to hike a couple thousand total vertical meters, in 6 hours. Devi immediately set a blistering pace as we were feeling the pressure of having a guide. The benefits of the hike were evident within the first half-hour, as we were treated with endless views of the length of Katse reservoir. Once again we were blown away by the presence of cows, sheep, and goats. I can understand that sheep and goats can reach nearly impossible places, but cows!. Clumsy, awkward, bored, uninspiring Cows!. I have forever changed my impression of the Cow, Oh great givers of beef!, chew my cud baby, cows are the rock stars of the livestock universe.
We reached the most visible high spot early in the day and settled down for some tasty pears. Luckily, we brought enough (remember I did not say water) food, for our guide, not only was he dressed for a night out, but he also failed to bring anything to the party on the ridge. However in his defense he did provide us with the herbal remedy for anemia, expertly guided us around potentially dangerous packs of dogs, and allowed us to confidently walk through villages that we would otherwise have navigated around. All in all, except for me deleting all of the pictures just before we started the descent, the day was great. I tried to make up for the error by running back up over the ridge to snap as many pictures as I could, but the moment was lost. I also lost control all the way down the ridge as I developed touristitis in my camera hand, I was about to melt down until Devi took the camera away. Once off the ridge we had about a 1.5hr road hike back to the canoe man. The happiest moment of the trip was when our guide admitted to being tired. We had out walked a Basotho!..OH yeah, I forgot about the thirst. Our Guide also did not bring any water, so we shared our meager supply, and we all paid the price. The dirt road walk was filled with dreams of all sorts of fluid being poured down our paste filled mouths, into our 50 grit sandpaper esophagus’s, and then into dime bag sized stomachs glued shut with dried gastric acids. Devi even went as far as to dream about drinking a Coke, I tried talking her out of this repulsive dream, but she was insistent that she could handle the toxic by-products and that the carbonation was exactly the right chemical mixture to scrape off all the paste and sandpaper that presently caused the suffocation our otherwise delusional brains.
Oh yeah! The modeling, Devi and I met Dirk, a photographer for the Lesotho Ministry of tourism, he was doing a photo shoot for Katse Dam and needed “people who look like tourists”, and well, “White Boy Sammy” (currently bright red) and “Three Shades of Brown Devi” fit the bill perfectly. We first had to sneak out of work, which was a little nerve racking as it just happened to be the day the representatives from the Clinton Foundation and the Lesotho AIDS Directorate were supposed to come to the clinic. Once over our guilt (very short lived), we bolted for the ponies. Basotho ponies are known for their “fearlessness, stunted growth, sturdy disposition and remarkable powers of endurance”. Thank you very much for the fearlessness and sturdy disposition, because unbeknownst to me, but observed by Devi, my pony often choose to pause in perilously tip-toeing positions on the edges of foreseeable bilateral femur fractures, should one fall. The comments I heard from Dirk were much what I expected, “Sam sit straight, look at Devi, because she’s perfect.” We rode around for an hour or so, then back to work, actually lunch which consisted of two yummy toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches. After lunch Dirk was back napping at our heels about going out on the reservoir in power boats. So we left work again, with the blessing of our Matron. Once again African time kicked in again and the two hour tour, turned in four thanks to a driver with an empty belly and a boat with an empty tank. The belly was empty before the trip, the tank empty during the trip. I have to say I was totally happy about the lack of gas, as it gave us a great afternoon of beautiful views and new friends while floating helplessly on the Katse Reservoir. Dirk gifted us our first coffee table book!, for some reason Devi was overly excited about this, “We have a coffee table book, can you believe it”. Remember, practice life with an “uncluttered mind”
Ok, so next posting from India.