Category — observations

If I had to choose how to describe the residents of Lesotho, warm and joyful would be two words I might use. Here are a few photos of people we met while touring with World Vision:

^{photo by Henry Miersma}

^{photo by Henry Miersma}

^{photo by Brad Miersma}

^{photo by Brad Miersma}

Maseru is the capital of Lesotho, and it’s downtown bustles with action. The small downtown section is very modern, with people and cars everywhere. Unlike the U.S., cars have the right of way over pedestrians. That last part takes some getting used to, but one close call at a cross-walk seems to fix that…

There are a ton of taxis in Maseru and they are constantly honking their horns, the reason for which I have yet to discern. The result is a pretty good size din for a rather small city. There are many old Volkswagon vans used as taxis here and throughout the country, but most of the cars in the city are smaller. They’re usually still old, though.

Every once in awhile, you’ll see a processional of government cars that have the little flags on their hoods and travel in packs of 3 or 4. These vehicles are always shiny and new, and most are Mercedes or Audis. They have markings that tell you who’s being carted around, whether it’s the King or Prime Minister.

The thing about Maseru is how different it is from the surrounding area. The disparity is eye-opening. More on that later.

Here’s a shot of par of Maseru.

O.K., I realize I’m seeing very little of the area, but what I do see reminds me of the upper Owens River Valley in California, near Bishop, with long, sloping green valleys leading to tall mountain ridge-lines. The difference is that there are many small ridgelines instead of the one long Sierra Nevada line. Also, the ridges look more like something you’s see in Utah… more of a desert feel to them.

^{Approaching Cape Town}

Here’s what you get when a couple of MAC men finally start preparing for a trip… Long overdue computer backups.