Monday, October 25, 2010

Lesotho...wait, where is that?

I am going to make a huge assumption and say that the majority who read this blog, have never heard of Lesotho (officially Kingdom of Lesotho).  I hadn't heard of it myself until a couple years ago.  And because this is a place I know I am actually going, I wanted to do a little investigating and find out more for myself!


Next May, about a week after graduation, I will be spending two weeks in the country of Lesotho on a service trip with a wonderful group through the Office of Community Outreach at BW.  I don't know entirely what to expect yet, as we are still planning details, but I know we will be working with children, which I am so excited about!  This trip has been taken three times before in the past, and I have heard awesome things about it.


Now, for a little bit about this little country.  First of all, you might be thinking...where in the world is this place?  Well, Lesotho is located within South Africa.  Yes, a country within a country.  Here's a little map to give you a visual:




Thanks to CIA, The World Factbook, here are some quick facts about Lesotho:

-About the size of Maryland
-Population: 2,130,819
-Languages include: Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa.


This may or may not come as a surprise, but like the other places I've blogged about, Lesotho is indeed mountainous.  (Yay!)  I love mountains.  Throughout my investigation, I also found that among its 10 districts, there is one called Berea!  What a coincidence.  Like most of Africa, a huge issue in this country is HIV/AIDS, and the life expectancy is often low, with men around age 41, and women at 39.

A few places to see might include:




  • Semonkong Falls — these falls near Semonkong drop 200m in single plunge! In summer, you can swim in the pond below while in winter the pond freezes over and an ice enclosure develops around the falls.
  • Katse Dam — an impressive dam towering 185m in a narrow valley
  • Dinosaur footprints — well-preserved footprints of these terrible lizards exist around the country, the most accessible are near Moyeni & Morija
  • Rock art — found in many places throughout the country, the most impressive found within Liphofung Cave

Obviously, this is only a small part of what this country has to offer, and I can't wait to meet the people there, and learn more about the culture, and just...have an experience that I can't even really anticipate.  =)


Maletsunyane Falls

1 comment:

  1. Yay! I'm glad you get to go on the Lesotho trip! Take lots of pictures and blog lots. It looks beautiful.

    ReplyDelete