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Tag: Basotho children’s choir

  • African shoestrings – South Africa Day Sixteen

    The rest of our journey in Lesotho passed without incident as we passed the odd town, which appeared more western than those we had seen in the Malealea area, but still dusty and neglected and yet somehow thriving and functional!
    As it was Sunday a lot of the locals tend to dress in their best clothes and we were treated to men in their shiny black suits and women in colourful dresses wondering along the road on their way to or from somewhere or other.

    The Buthe border post was a lot quieter than Maseru Bridge however we still had get out of the car and go to the Lesotho passport control for a stamp, go back to the car, drive across the border, get out of the car, go to the South African passport office for another stamp and get asked a question or two and then finally get back in the car and drive past customs officials who normally just look at you suspiciously. Today however we were pulled over and our passport and car registration nos. duly noted by a rather stern and non-communicative official.

    Now back in South Africa the difference is almost startling, no longer are there numerous villages clinging to the roadside. If there are any they are usually hidden away from the road. Where in Lesotho there are either signs of erosion or intensive tracts of crops, here the countryside is in the main, relatively unscarred.

    The previous white apartheid regime seemed to always create two towns, the white dominated main town centre and its white suburbs and about 5 kilometres away the black dominated satellite. This is, of course, all changing but the evidence is still there as the population both black and white grapple with the changes necessary to evolve into a fair and equitable society. Nowhere is the difficulty more obvious than a place called Clarens, about 40 kilometres north of Buthe Buthe.

    Clarens is trendsville! Curio shops and cafes jostle for your attention along the single short main street. You could have been anywhere in the western world. White South Africans from the bigger towns around strolled and stopped for lunch or a drink enjoying their day out. There was not a black face to be seen. For us after just ‘roughing’ the last week in Lesotho, it was timely if somewhat culturally disturbing. We had a nice lunch in “Bruce’s Pub” and then moved on.

    A singer from the Basotho children's choir near Malealea, Lesotho
    A singer from the Basotho children’s choir near Malealea, Lesotho

  • African shoestrings – Lesotho Day Ten

    That night the local Basotho children’s choir performed for us. It was quite stirring stuff. They sung songs of peace and hopefulness with a great deal of emphasis on finding a solution for the poverty and a drug problem that was, surprisingly, becoming more prevalent amongst their youth.
    They were followed by the local band that played on what can only be described as DIY instruments. David our guide from the morning walk played the drums, an inner tyre tube stretched over a small metal drum with pieces of metal strung together acting as symbols.
    The music itself was just OK but watching these guys make any sort of rhythm from this collection of tip rubbish was amazing.

    Amongst the other spectators, supposedly sharing this experience were a group of ‘overlanders’.
    For the uninitiated overlanders is a nickname for tourists generally in the 20 to 30 year old age group who travel in a large truck with usually around 20 others, a driver and leader, camping and other equipment of various uses and food. These groups usually travel great distances and their trips can take from three weeks to several months depending on the itinerary. Some for instance will travel from London to Cape Town!
    Now we’ve seen these groups before and were in fact tempted to join one before arriving and probably for a lot of single people it’s a good way to travel. What had made us go cold on the idea was a description of trip that someone (I forget who) gave us.
    Apparently a lot of people tend to travel this way to either get pissed or to get laid or both.
    Now maybe some of you reading this are saying what’s wrong with that? Well, that’s fine if you don’t interfere with anyone else who doesn’t share the same sort of cultural enlightenment.
    In this particular situation there were two or three who actually didn’t care much about anyone else in the audience. They strutted around the place with their puny fat torsos exposed for us all to admire (sadly they were all male), bottle in hand, making a fair bit of noise and not the least bit interested in the entertainment!
    The quality of tourists is just not what it used to be.

    Basotho children's choir in Malealea, Lesotho singing for guests.
    Basotho children’s choir in Malealea, Lesotho singing for guests.