And we finally made it across the border......

Here are some favourite shots of Lesotho. If I had to try and distil the essence of the country into 12 pictures, these might go a little way towards it. But there will be lots more. Malealea deserves a post of its own. And there are so many stunning skywatch shots to look forward to.

On the road from Tele Bridge to Mount Moorosi, one comes across the mighty Senqu River several times. It is beautiful looking down on the meanders far below.

Isn't this the most beautiful face, so full of wisdom and quiet humour? He was a lovely old man, who we gave a lift to into town one day. When the corrupt Policeman at a roadblock was trying to extract a bribe from us by saying that the bakkie was only licenced to carry two people, and that it was illegal to have the old man in the back, I asked him if he was seriously going to prosecute us for helping an old man up the hill. It must have shamed him, because he looked self conscious and waved us on.

Another friendly villager at the Moorosi Chalets.

A scene of the village at the foot of Mount Moorosi. It was from here that we parked the bakkie and walked up the mountain. I would imagine that it must make your day, walking out of your home to a view like that every morning!

No photo essay on Lesotho would be complete without a famous Basotho Pony. These hardy and nimble little ponies are incredibly tough and sure footed, traversing slopes that most mountain goats would think twice about. They are an indispensable part of rural life in this place of isolated villages, steep terrain and poor roads.

One thing which the people in Lesotho take for granted is their skill with stonework. It is such a natural part of their lives that they don't seem to see it as unusual. But to most of us, who don't live where there is an abundance of rock, it is, and so it was a delight to come across a bunch of stoneworkers preparing blocks of sandstone, all done laboriously by hand.

We adored the sunrises at Malealea, the crisp cold air and the warm first light were a winning combination.

And what a view to wake up to!

The road from Malealea to Mohale Dam took us up 3 spectacular mountain passes, until we felt we were sitting on top of the world.

The Mohale Dam and Katse Dam are part of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which is part of a huge hydro-electric scheme. Very few parts of the country have any electricity, so it was a change to see giant pylons on the horizon.

And wherever you look, no matter how remote, look closely and you will spot a couple of huts.

The only thing that can be recommended about the Orion Hotel known as Mohale Lodge, overlooking Lake Mohale, is the view..... seriously it is a rip off staying at this seedy hotel, but the place is so remote that if you get there close to dark, as we did, you end up not having much choice. Be warned, give it a miss on your itinerary!

I'll show you around Malealea soon, that is definitely not a place you want to miss!

some more favourite photos

Snow on the mountains between Barkly Pass and Barkly East

Fascinating ruins of stone dwellings in caves between Barkly Pass and Barkly East.

Wonderful sandstone formations between Eliott and Lady Grey

A delightful old church in Lady Grey

But we still haven't made it to Lesotho, next time, I promise we will have crossed the border!

this'n that weekend ramblings

Well, it has been a fairly productive week. On the work front, I finally goaded myself back into the studio. I was having a spell of severe procrastination, and just could not seem to motivate myself to christen the new studio. I read a post by CJ in Scotland which pretty much exactly expressed what was going on, and so we made a pact to encourage each other to get going. It seems to have worked (thanks CJ, knowing you are accountable to someone does provide the needed shove in the right direction!!) It is quite gratifying that requests to exhibit at various galleries have been coming in, and I really needed to make a start, so it is a relief that when I did get in there, it really started to flow, and i have made a great start. I finished a large one and began 5 others, and also made frames for some of them. Will post pix on the art blog shortly!

On the health front, Max and I have been making a concerted effort to maintain the momentum of improving our lifestyle since his heart attack. For me the motivation is a cholesterol reading that is still too high, despite 4 months of careful eating, and for him it is making sure he never has to go through that again!

But having said that, we have both been aware that the occasional stroll round the neighbourhood, stopping every few seconds to take photos, is NOT going to do much to contribute to greater fitness.

We did manage to climb Mount Moorisi in Lesotho,

and last weekend we climbed the Campanile, an iconic PE landmark, which is a tall (204 steps to be precise) brick bell tower built to commemorate the centenary of the arrival of the 1820 settlers.

We surprised ourselves by being able to do these at all, but now want to get fit enough that next time, this issue will not be "can we make it?" but "how fast can we make it?"!!! I joined an aquarobics class recently, and work out in a heated pool twice a week, led by a physiotherapist. It is wonderful and I hate it if I have to miss a class. It has already made an enormous difference to the amount of pain in my knees and back, and I feel a great sense of well-being after each session. But it is not possible for Max to join in, as it is during his work hours, and it is not a cardiovascular workout, which I know is what we both need.

Soooooooooo .............. today we bit the bullet and bought an exercise bike. Hopefully, spurred on by the guilt if we don't get the maximum use out of such an expensive machine, we will now cycle ourselves to fitness (and with any luck less flabbiness will be an added bonus!)

So as I write this, I am waiting for my heart rate to drop and my legs to lose the jelly-like feeling (and secretly thinking "what have we done, are we totally mad??!!")

I'll end by sharing a few of my very favourite photos taken on our recent trip to Lesotho. As usual, I took so many, so today will only take us as far as the Barkly Pass, near Elliot in the Eastern Cape, next time we might even make it as far as Lesotho!

The forest in the arboretum in the delightful little mountain village of Hogsback.

On the road between Hogsback and Cathcart

Between Cathcart and Elliot

The mountains peeping through the mist at the top of the Barkly Pass.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Skywatch Friday: twice as nice

But before I get to the Skywatch, an urgent appeal..... on behalf of the suffering people of Zimbabwe....If, like me, you are devastated to see images of people being beaten, tortured, murdered, starved and left homeless by ZANU, in its efforts to hold onto power, and if you are also growing increasingly frustrated at the lack of action by the International Community to help these people, then PLEASE take a minute of your time, and add your voice to the many calling on the UN to intervene urgently. It is quick and painless, but if enough of us respond, perhaps we can help to bring about a better life for those in Zim who have no voice. Here is the link to a site called Help Save Zimbabwe.

I received the link in an e-mail from the originator of the appeal, so if you want me to forward it to you so that you can send it on to your mailing list and help spread the appeal to a wider worldwide group, please e-mail me on sue(at)elgecko(dot)co(dot)za . Thanks.

Thanks to all who hop across quickly to register their concern to the Secretary General of the UN..... we'll wait till you get back.... and then move onto something altogether more serene!

A double dose of puffy clouds, and a railway bridge thrown in for fun!

Eish!

OK game viewing is one thing, but this might be a bit close for comfort.............





In fact a closer look reveals that this elephant probably does NOT have the most honorable intentions towards the little Citi Golf! Don't you just love the look on the guy's face? And the fact that the girl is so rivetted by what she is seeing on that side of the car that she has failed to notice the trunk heading for her window behind her! A friend sent this photo by e-mail, so I don't know who took it, but well done whoever you are, it is priceless!!