The main reason why we had come to Malealea was to go Pony trekking. Somehow though, Mick had not only talked us into taking an ensuite cabin rather than a lot cheaper Basotho hut but had also persuaded us to wait a day before going Pony trekking. I’m glad he did because that allowed us to walk to the Botsoela waterfall.

For the measly sum of around A$5.00 we hired a guide, David to take us to the falls. David was probably around 6 foot tall and quite well built and to our surprise, was only twelve years old! He obviously did this often, because towards the end of this four hour jaunt, we had trouble keeping up.

Malealea village itself was our first taste of the Bastho way of life. Mud huts and houses with small areas of crops in the garden, smoking fires, ladies patching up the mud walls and children approaching us once again with hands outstretched for “sweets”.
Some of the mud huts had different colour flags flying. This David told us was all to do with beer.
A white flag meant that beer made from Sorghum had just been brewed. If it was yellow then it was Maize beer.
Having tried Maize beer before we decided not to pursue any potential tasting.

This  for the village of Ha Mohlakana, on the way back, was pretty much the same, except it had absolutely priceless views. In fact all along the walk we had difficulty in looking where we were walking. We just couldn’t take our eyes off the almost Tibetan scenery.

The falls themselves were a bit tame but every cloud has a silver lining. The crystal clear water in a small pool at the base of the falls to dangle was perfect to refresh our aching feet in.

The Botsoela waterfall near Malealea in Lesotho