Some photos from our stop in town and our climb up to Thaba Bosiu
From Saul:
If you know the history of southern Africa, you would recognize the name Moshoeshoe (pronounced Mo' shway shway). As the founder of country of Lesotho he established his people on a fort-like plateau called Thaba Bosiu. We approached the cliffs of Thaba Bosiu at 10:30 in the morning but our guide had planned for us to do something prior to climbing the plateau. We were to have a behind-the-scenes look at traditional work done at home by Basotho women, which included broom making, pottery making, and the art of resurfacing the exterior walls of Basotho homes. It was very sweet of these Sotho women to have let us into their home to witness a small fragment of their lifestyle and tradition.
Once we jumped back into the bus, we drove to the base of Thaba Bosiu. The climb was a nice workout. At the top, we saw remnants of the first Basotho settlers and we stopped at Moshoeshoe's grave.
The last stop of the day was the King's palace (home of the current king). It was interesting to see the mix of historical and modern architecture and the development of the royal archives building.
Location:Thaba Bosiu, Lesotho
Thabo is a boy's name. Thaba is the word for mountain.
ReplyDeleteIn 1965, the renowned historian, Leonard Thompson, and I were having dinner at Lancer's Inn. (He wrote the definitive work on Moshoeshoe.)
ReplyDeleteAfter a few beers, we decided to drive to Thaba Bosiu to check out the legend that it become a real mountain at night. The trip then was on incredibly poor gravel roads and took at least an hour. When we arrived, we discovered that the legend was true! (Was it the beer?)
During the day, Thaba Bosiu stands among equally large hills like the Berea (Thuathe) Plateau and is dwarfed by the mountains in the distance. But standing under its sandstone escarpment at night, the top looks much higher silouetted against the stars.
No wonder the Matebele, Zulu and Boer warriors were intimidated!