Up in the Clouds - 11/25/2012

BEN - We had yet another early hectic morning of making breakfast, lunch, and packing food for a Lesotho trip.  The difference today was that this time we were actually packing for ourselves!  Both Gabby and I were giddy with excitement as we accomplished everything, and got everyone all geared up.  We threw some clothes and cameras into a saddle bag, and we were off.  We jammed into the bed of the pick up truck with our four new French adventurers; Eric, Francois, Cecile, and Pascaline.  We started climbing up the mountains and toward Lesotho.  The Frenchmen were just as excited and enthusiastic as we were, making for a fun ride.  They really seem like a great group of people, which should make our trip that much more enjoyable.  After about 40 minutes of uncomfortable, but scenic driving in the bed of the truck, we reached Bushman's Nek, the border post and giant valley that separates South Africa and Lesotho.  Eric was our guide (which I was happy about) and started saddling up the seven horses for our trip.

Some rock formations appear from the gloom

I would be riding Tofalax, a huge toffee colored male known for being strong, but slow.  Gabby would be riding Jackie, Lulu’s horse who is temperamental and extremely fast when she wants to be.  The pairings seemed pretty fitting.  We set off and had a brief wait at the border, where we just handed in our passports for a stamp.  With that, we were off and within minutes had to face our first river crossing.  We had a number of these, the horses expertly maneuvering the slippery rocks.  The day was hot, and I felt as if I was in Middle Earth, riding through the breath taking beauty of the valley surrounded by sheer mountains.  About an hour into the ride, I realized that those sheer mountains were what we were about to climb.  As we started our ascent, I began to realize just how strong these horses actually were; sometimes leaping up a few feet to take the next step.  As we wound our way up some clouds began to roll in, and before we knew it, we were enveloped by them.  Visibility became zero and the temperature dropped, making everyone reach for their sweatshirts and rain coats.  We continued to ascend, occasionally having to get off the horses and lead them by their bridles up particularly steep and rocky sections.  It was after one of these sections that we crested the lip, and Eric called for lunch.  

We had reached the top, a mountain plateau with lots of grass for the horses to chow down on.  We all sucked down some warm tea and coffee from thermoses to warm up.  We all devoured my homemade cheese, tomato, sweet Thai chili, mayo, and ham sandwiches.  We were clearly missing a spectacular view of the valley below, the cloud cover was just too dense.  After lunch we followed the grassy plateau.   The land was mostly flat so we were able to gallop and cantor quite a bit.  Once again, I started shaky  but got the hang of it eventually.  Suddenly, out of the gloom in front of us, giant rock formations appeared.  The terrain completely changed as we navigated through rock arches and past strange twisted rock pillars.  Together with the dense fog, it mad quite a fantastical, mythological feel.  After many twists and turns through the rock, we reached our goal, a lodge situated right next to these rock outcrops and next to the high peaks of the mountains.  Apparently the King of Lesotho comes and spends his holidays at this lodge.  We met Bernard, the owner, and settled in to our cushy rooms, complete with an absurd number of blankets, and ridiculously soft pillows.  

We enjoy some sherry in the lodge.
From left: Eric, Pascaline, Cecile, me, Francoise, Gabby, and Eric

After 5 ½ hours of riding, everyone was tired, so Gabby and I made tea, coffee, and popcorn for everyone while Eric fed and tended to the horses.  We broke out a bottle of sherry, a staple in the area, and all toasted to the trip, and our guide Eric.  Eric let me buy a Muluti, Lesotho’s own beer, which tasted eerily similar to Pennsylvania’s Rolling Rock.  We spent some time getting to know our new travel buddies, and laughing about how much our butts and backs already hurt.  Gabby and I started cooking; tonight we would feast on chicken, potatoes, beans, and salad.  The potatoes took forever to cook, so we eventually just ate without them.  The French can certainly eat and drink, each of the girls took the chicken skeleton and literally sucked every bone dry.  The best part of the night was when they refused to let Gabby and I do any dishes.  They insisted on helping.  Awesome!  This really was the perfect trip with the perfect group of people.  Gabby and I curled up in our cushy bed and were instantly asleep.