Lesotho...a landlocked kingdom ruled by a king & parliament surrounded by South Africa. That's about all I knew before we passed through immigration to enter Lesotho. We saw gorgeous scenery and we saw a tiny country in limbo...trying to modernize with cement homes...most not finished...a new & modern university & many people talking on cell phones. But mostly what we saw was poor crumbling housing of mud/rock, some newer corrugated homes...most with outhouses. Tiny farms mostly worked by oxen with failing crops...small herds of cow/sheep/goats under the watch of shepherds who wore heavy blankets & traditional straw hats or ski mask...in spite of the 80 degree temp. We drove roads slowed by speed bumps, potholes, erosion, heavy pedestrian traffic, and uneven & rugged edges.
Our destination was the Basotho Cultural Center. It was a pleasant surprise! It was very well done and interesting. Our guide walked us through a replicated village giving us lots of details. The original chief settled here in early 1800's & managed to get the 16 local tribes to band together...mostly by marrying lots of their women...140 wives in all. He encouraged other tribes to take women from his tribes too. He even put girl's huts on the edge of his village so they were easy to steal away and be married.
He eventually found it safest to move his village to the top of a butte...much like Manchu Picchu. After he died, his son took over & to this day, the kingdom is ruled by his descendants.
Fascinating info on a plaque in the museum said many of the Basotho tribes trace their ancestors to Egypt and Ham, the son of Noah. Roger asked if the missionaries told them that and our guide assured us that it was part of their story looong before any missionaries came.
After a night at an old farm...sleeping in an out building with marginal updates....we took the road that skirted the western boundary seeing more of the gorgeous natural mountians and more of the same struggling kingdom.
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