Lily Vale

I slept well and woke up a minute before my alarm was due to go off at 5.45am. I always marvel at the ability of my internal body clock to measure time so precisely as to wake me up a minute before my alarm. I got a shower, packed my things and had breakfast of cereal and an omelette before boarding the truck with my fellow travellers for a very long drive to Lesotho. We stopped at a nearby supermarket to buy lunch and provisions for the next few days. We then drove on through a cultivated landscape of fields, trees and farm buildings. After a couple of hours on the road the landscape became more filled with a rocky terrain and mountains with steep rocky escarpments rising up, shining silver in the sun. This was the beginning of the steep rise into the high mountains of Lesotho.
Kristen, Grant and myself then had an interesting and wide rangimg seven hour conversation about changing the current economic narrative to one that is environmentally sustainable for the future of life on this planet by moving from our current addiction to private consumerism to a narrative of public, shared wealth. This would then meet our basic needs for living whilst allowing us time to pursue more meaningful and nourishing activities such as spending time in nature and looking after the environment. We also spent a long time discussing religious history (which is an academic specialism for Kristen) and the roots of Judaism and Christianity and how a once radical and progressive religious narrative has become fundamentalist, conservative and restrictive. I discussed my interest in a narrative of nature as God which allows a holistic and inclusive approach where science, art and spirituality can have their valued place and where spirit and matter are both part of our experience of nature rather than separated from it.
After some long hours driving, we reached the Lesotho border and it was an easy and efficient entry into the country that is a kilometre high in the mountains. The transition to a much poorer country was immediately evident in the small houses and shacks that people lived in. We were back in an area with little tourism and the local people waved and smiled at us with some glee as we waved and smiled back to them. They came across as very friendly and welcoming. We continued waving to local people and children on their way home from school until the dark clouds descended and it began to rain heavily which meant that we had to put the tarpaulin sides of the truck down to protect us from the rain.
We drove on through heavy rain with occasional glimpses of the mountains of Lesotho ahead. We turned onto a long bumpy and muddy track towards our next hostel destination, Malealea Lodge, with the truck sliding in the mud at one point. We arrived at a large sprawling site with a reception, games hall, bar, dining area and a communal kitchen. This was an interesting place that tried to be as eco-friendly as possible and had solar powered electricity. Unfortunately, the rain was still falling and we got quite wet being guided around the site. We were each booked into our own rooms with twin beds and an ensuite toilet and shower which was the first time on this trip I had had my own room and it felt like a real luxury. We had a debrief on activities that we could do while staying at the hostel before we walked over to the dining room for a very enjoyable buffet meal (paid for us by Jemma) along with other people staying at the hostel. I had a glass of red wine with my meal of beans, swede, potato, sudza (maize mash), coleslaw and pork. I was feeling better in my health and enjoyed the evening chatting and joking with my fellow travellers. We all got an early night as it had been a long 11 hour trip on the truck. I was able to get a hot shower before I settled down to sleep with the rain still falling heavily outside.Read more