Finally Moving North - Sam

Matt and I have had a loaded 5 days. We made it to Cape Town after finishing volunteering with Outward Bound South Africa, but not after our bus broke down along the way. It turned out to not be a big deal as we just boarded another bus. I was a little concerned about getting on the next bus as the bus driver of the first bus let us on with no proof of having tickets. We assumed we would be able to pick them up at the bus stop, which was wrong. Matt showed him our reference number, which he didn't check and I just said I was with Matt. So that's apparently all you have to do to sneak on a bus in South Africa.

Once we arrived in Cape town, we went and picked up our car and had to learn how to drive on the "wrong" side of the road and shift gears on the "wrong" side of the car. It was a little nerve racking, but after driving down the other side of the road a couple times and needing both of us to help navigate the enormous city of Cape Town, we got the hang of it. We got the hang of it, but not after I dented the side of the car with a branch that was hidden in some bushes as I poorly parallel parked just hours after we got the car. There goes $200.

That day we drove down to the Cape of Good Hope, the southern most point of Cape Town, to get some practice driving the tiny Toyota hatchback. We stopped at a wharf along the way and got fresh fish and chips and beer. The Cape of Good Hope was great and we found some nice cliffs that were easily scalable with some amazing views of the ocean. Cape Town is a massive city, a little too big for our liking, but there were little sleepy towns all along peninsula of the Cape of Good Hope with awesome expansive views of the ocean.

The following day we headed towards the southern most tip of Africa, the point where the Indian and Atlantic oceans converge. We passed through country that resembled Eastern Washington or Kansas in the Autumn after the grasslands and farms start turning brown. We drove through many small towns with lots of local coffee shops and art galleries that reminded me of towns along the coast of Oregon and California. When we reached the southern most tip, we found a viewpoint that we decided our little inadequate Toyota would be able to make up. For the first time since we reached Africa, we found somewhere where we could throw our sleeping pads down and guerrilla camp, something we imagined we would be doing regularly with the Tuk Tuk. It was a great feeling. Our trip was finally totally in our control. We had our own car, could travel wherever we wanted and throw our packs down and sleep under the stars.

Our next destination was the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, the land with no fences and the country with the highest low point of any nation in the world. A place where cattle, goat and sheep herders roam the mountains and the roads with their flocks. The people wear colorful blankets and balaclavas covering their faces and bodies from the intense sun at high altitudes. Herds of animals roam the land openly. Men and young boys often times herd their animals on donkeys and on horseback. Occasionally you will see horses roaming freely off in the distance and I wonder if they belong to anyone or if they are wild. The sound of bells attached to goats and cattle ring as you drive through. This is a place where one can roam the mountains and camp freely, or so Matt and I thought.

The first day we spent driving through small villages full of huts made of stones with thatched roofs made of straw. I have never been somewhere like this. Unlike South Africa, the people seem to be so far removed from the western world that the world economy could crash and the people would likely not be affected. They would carry on living how they have for centuries. They definitely have their own style and way of life that resembles nowhere in the western world.


That first night in Lesotho, Matt and I found a place where we could drive the car off the road, hide it from view and hike along the top of a small ridge that overlooked a village. We made camp and began cooking dinner and drinking a bottle of wine that only cost $1.50, but tastes a hell of lot better than Boone's Farm as South Africa is known for it's wine. After dinner, we sat overlooking the village and had a cigarette listening to the sounds of the village below. We could hear the bells ringing from around animals' necks and could hear children and people singing songs. There were maybe ten to fifteen lights that could be seen, the majority of which from fires and only a few from electric sources. Life here is simple. As I lay down in my sleeping bag, I think this is why I travel.

The following day, Christmas Eve, we woke up with the sun, packed our things and headed back on the twisting, turning roads that weave their way through valleys and scale mountain passes as high as 3200 meters, occasionally descending hundreds of meters just to shoot back up again. Fortunately, most of the roads are paved. The people seem friendly enough, many waving back at us and smiling and many giving us a puzzled look that says "What the hell is a white person doing in my village?" If I felt like a minority before, here I am beyond a minority. We are the only two white people for miles, at least it feels that way. It's somewhat of a lonely feeling, but one I am learning to embrace. It's my hope that it becomes common place further into the trip and not so isolating. Time will tell.

As we drive, we come across an archaeological site. The site consists of a cave that has drawings on them, many dating back as far as 15,000 years. The drawings consist of animals and people with animal limbs and heads. The stories that accompany the drawings are of battles and of shamans communicating with and successfully transforming into animals. I'll be honest, the history of the drawings is interesting, but once you see a cave drawing, you've seen them all.

Along the way we come across a ski resort and decide to stop in for a beer. It is a nice lodge that is nearly empty given that it is summer here. It only has one run on the mountain, but the fact that there is a ski resort in Africa at all is amazing to us. As we are sipping our beers, we realize that for the first and likely only time in our lives, we are sitting in an empty ski resort on Christmas eve with absolutely no snow with temperatures somewhere in 80's. It's a strange feeling, especially with a large blow up snow man sitting in the corner and Christmas music playing.

That night we found a seemingly great place to hide the car on the highest pass in Lesotho and hike up to a Plateau to make camp and cook dinner. We were somewhere around 11,800 ft. The wind was whipping and we found a small flat place on a rock hidden from the wind to cook. For dinner we made curried lentils and rice topped with sauteed vegetables seasoned with spicy chakalaka seasoning, somewhat similar to Curry. That night, we woke up to a thick cloud socking in the mountain top. Everything was damp from the moisture. You could see the whisping white clouds moving in all around us surrounding us until there was little visibility. It was amazing sleeping up in the clouds. As long as a storm didn't move in, we were fine with it.

The following morning we packed up and headed back to our car, a short fifteen minute hike. When we arrived to the car we saw a man waiting near our car. We walked up to him and said hello. He seemed weary of us, but said hello back. He then proceeded to inform us he didn't know where our car came from and had called the police to come investigate. He spoke some English, but it was very limited. We informed him that we were just camping on the mountain top and that he had nothing to worry about. He said in broken English, "You wait, police come and you talk with them." I told him we had somewhere to be and were leaving. We through our packs in the car, got in and started the vehicle. That is when he leaned against the car and said "You see, there could be criminals trying to steel cars. I don't know where this car come from." "We were just camping. This car is ours and we have to go because we have to be in Mokhotlong by a certain time," I replied. It went back and forth for a while. He again said, "You wait for police to come. They sort it out." That's about the time he pulled out his revolver and showed me he was armed. He didn't point it at us, and in the moment I felt fear, but he put it away and I honestly didn't feel threatened by him after that. I think he was honestly just making sure were weren't car thieves. We wrote a note for the police and insisted on leaving. He called them back, but I think they were already on their way. We finally got him to agree to let us leave and we took off without incident. That is how Christmas day began for us. We are now hanging out at a lodge enjoying the comforts of home, drinking coffee and using wifi. Tonight we are going to treat ourselves to burgers and cold beer, who knows maybe a glass of scotch. It is Christmas after all.