Lesotho

Overview

The entire country lies within South Africa and consists of three types of landscape, rising from a plateau through foothills to the Maluti and parts of the Drakensberg mountain ranges. Visitors will probably feel the altitude as the whole country is at least a kilometre above sea level.

Accommodation varies, but if tents are brought there are locations for camping. This is especially the case in the more remote areas such the Mokhotlong mountainous district. Hiking is possible here as it is where the Maluti meet the Drakensberg. A spot of refreshment might be taken at the highest pub in Africa. Birds and alpine flora re prevalent in the Sehlaba-Thebe National Park, which is the only official such park. There are bushmen paintings at the Baroana and Qomoqomong although the dinosaur footprints off the Mount Morosi road and Subeng Stream warrant some attention.

Possible sports include skiing, weather permitting and water sports on Katse Lake, if something more active is yearned for after some time gazing at the Maletsunyane Falls and observing local crafts at Teya-Teyanen, or the national monument at Thaba-Bosiu whaich was Moshoeshoe I's citadel.

History

Originally the Sotho-Tswana people lived in what is now Free State in neighbouring South Africa. They were a farming people, and when the Zulus started attacking villages and the Voortrekkers started encroaching on their land, they fled up into the Lesotho mountains. Here, continuous attacks from the Zulus forced local tribes to join together for protection, and by 1824, King Moeshoeshoe had established himself as king and Thaba Bosiu as his mountain fortress. In 1843, Moeshoeshoe allied himself with the British Cape Colony government in a bid to protect the Basotho from the Boer's rapidly increasing presence in the area. Much fighting followed, forcing Moeshoeshoe to go straight to the imperial government of the British, and in 1868, Basotholand (as it was then called) became a protectorate of the British Empire. Among the many benefits of this, when the Union of South Africa was created in 1910, Lesotho was not included - thus giving it an apartheid free 20th century. It was granted independence from the British Empire on October 4th 1966 and annually, on October 4th, Lesotho celebrates its independence day.