We took a five day trip to Lesotho, our first holiday since moving to Africa. On the way, we drove through the Free State, one of the provinces in South Africa. The Free State is mostly flat and agricultural - perfect for farming - so for the life of me I couldn't figure out why these "Hazardous Object" signs were posted along the major highway. I was half expecting a cow to drop out of the sky:
Driving through the South African countryside is amazing - open land, blue sky, puffy white clouds... South Africa really is a beautiful country, despite the weird road signs:
Lesotho, on the other hand, is entirely mountainous. It is the only country in the world whose entire land mass is above 1,000 metres in elevation (3,280 feet). Lesotho is an independent nation bordered by South Africa on all sides, has a population of nearly two million people, and is called the Rooftop of Africa:
After crossing the border, we soon met our first obstacle: a tour bus was completely blocking the road. The road, I should mention, was a small, winding, mountain road that hugged a cliff. The only options: be stuck for hours (maybe days) with a traffic jam slowly forming on both sides, or carefully make our way around the bus. As you can see from the photo, Dan didn't have six inches to spare between the bus and falling off the cliff. Scary!
Here's another picture of the road we had to travel. It took four hours to travel 120 km (74 miles):
The countryside of Lesotho is dotted with small villages. The typical house is a stone rondavel with thatched roof:
Upon arrival in Semonkong, a small village in the middle of Lesotho, we were struck by the night sky. I have never seen so many stars in my life before! We had the idea that someone should establish an Observatory up on the mountain, but then, too much traffic might spoil the remote beauty.
"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him?... O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth!" - Psalm 8:3-4, 9
Driving through the South African countryside is amazing - open land, blue sky, puffy white clouds... South Africa really is a beautiful country, despite the weird road signs:
Lesotho, on the other hand, is entirely mountainous. It is the only country in the world whose entire land mass is above 1,000 metres in elevation (3,280 feet). Lesotho is an independent nation bordered by South Africa on all sides, has a population of nearly two million people, and is called the Rooftop of Africa: 
After crossing the border, we soon met our first obstacle: a tour bus was completely blocking the road. The road, I should mention, was a small, winding, mountain road that hugged a cliff. The only options: be stuck for hours (maybe days) with a traffic jam slowly forming on both sides, or carefully make our way around the bus. As you can see from the photo, Dan didn't have six inches to spare between the bus and falling off the cliff. Scary!
Here's another picture of the road we had to travel. It took four hours to travel 120 km (74 miles):
The countryside of Lesotho is dotted with small villages. The typical house is a stone rondavel with thatched roof:
Upon arrival in Semonkong, a small village in the middle of Lesotho, we were struck by the night sky. I have never seen so many stars in my life before! We had the idea that someone should establish an Observatory up on the mountain, but then, too much traffic might spoil the remote beauty. 
"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him?... O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth!" - Psalm 8:3-4, 9
1 comment:
Beautiful pictures...may your trips be wonderful...
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