Lumela from the Kingdom in the Sky
This is a continuation of my time in Southern Africa. From the title, you may have several questions; such as:
What does lumela mean?
What and where is the Kingdom in the Sky?
Fortunately, I’ll answer both of those questions shortly.
Following a wonderful time in South Africa, particularly in Cape Town, I rented a car in Johannesburg and set out for Lesotho, one of three kingdoms in Africa (the others being Eswatini and Morocco) and one of three enclaves in the world, with an enclave being defined as being surrounded completely by one other country. The two other enclaves are the Vatican and San Marino.
Driving in South Africa was easy! Joburg was quite congested but once you get out of the city the road is wide open. After about five hours I reached the border and said lumela (hello) to Lesotho, the Kingdom of the Sky! Lesotho (pronounced Le-sue-too) gets that nickname because its lowest point is higher than any other country’s lowest point. It is home to lots of mountains, a ski resort (there are few in Africa) and lots of farmland.
My time in Lesotho was short (it is a small country) but I could have stayed longer because it is a gem. I stayed one night in Maseru, the capital, which is pleasant but not exactly a buzzing tourist destination. People are very welcoming and friendly, but there’s not much to see. After a night in Maseru, I drove to Semonkong, about 3 hours inland. The highway is a hilly and winding two-lane road (one lane in each direction), and outside of Maseru, the country is very rural, and the only traffic jams I encountered were people on horseback herding their sheep. I don’t mean that literally - there were no traffic jams at all, there were very few cars. I just had to stop occasionally for Lesotho-style traffic.
Roadside views in Lesotho
Once I reached Semonkong, I surprisingly found quite a few other travelers (Europeans, an Australian, Koreans, and even another American). Everyone stays at Semonkong Lodge because it’s the only place to stay in Semonkong. Semonkong is quite a small town/village with unpaved roads, and it’s not even on the country’s electricity grid. The town receives its electricity from a generator, which is switched off overnight from 10 pm-8 am. That means everything goes dark, giving visitors a classic “African sky” experience - lots of stars. There are also very few cars in Semonkong; everyone owns a horse or donkey to get around from nearby villages and farmland to transport items like maize. Everyone lives off the land. It is a very rural, off-the-grid type of place, which is very cool to experience in 2024. One of my annoyances with travel is how tourism can change places so much, and in some cases, they become less interesting to see because they feel less authentic. Lesotho on the other hand feels very authentic. I am sure some residents of the town at least make it to Maseru a couple of times per year, but I met a 34-year-old who had only been there once. Riding horses through the countryside is what he knows best.
Starry nights in Semonkong
There are many activities to do at the lodge, such as hiking or horseback riding around the surrounding mountains. You can also do a donkey pub crawl which includes hitting 3 bars in town via donkey. I didn’t do this but I heard it’s a really nice way to interact with locals. The lodge can also arrange abseiling (basically rock climbing, whereby after a day of “training” you get to go down the nearby tallest single-drop waterfall in Africa). Semonkong is known as “the adventure capital of Lesotho.”
Semonkong Lodge accommodation
Speaking of the falls, the nearby Maletsunyane Falls (difficult to pronounce) is the tallest single-drop waterfall in Africa at 192m/630ft. I went there via horseback shortly after I arrived. Quite literally we just took the horses up the hill behind the lodge and just like that we were in the mountains/hills - no roads, just slopes and farmland and animals grazing for as far as you can see. Some of the cleanest air I remember (though the water situation is different; Lesotho is currently dealing with a cholera outbreak).
Maletsunyane Falls
While it seems like the complications of everyday life in the Western world are irrelevant to the people of Semonkong, the owner of the lodge explained one matter of great importance to local residents: land acquisition and rights. The chief of the town allocates land to people who are from the area (being from the area is the only qualification for receiving land) and essentially you get to keep the land until you’re done farming from it. Once you don’t use it for a season, it goes to someone else. And people take their land rights seriously: if your animals graze on someone else’s land, then you will get fined. People are careful to avoid taking their animals through other people's land. I noticed this during my trek via horseback.
After a few days in Semonkong, I headed back to Johannesburg.
Southern Africa was fantastic, and I am already planning a return trip to the region, and probably even elsewhere throughout the continent. After finally spending a good chunk of time here, I can say that Africa is my new favorite continent.
I am now in East Africa, but that’s for the next installment!