The Place of Smoke

My attempt at an artistic rendition of the Maletsunyane Falls in sepia tone

The English translation for "Semongkong" is The Place of Smoke. At first, I thought this was a reference to the smoke that can be seen coming out from the Basotho huts along the mountains. But then this wouldn't be exclusive to this village. It turns out that the actual origin of the name comes from the appearance of smoke rising from the bottom of the impressive 200 meter Maletsunyane Waterfall. Undeterred by the persistent rain last week, we set out on yet another road trip this past weekend with Semongkong as our destination.


As there has yet to be a dull moment during these trips, the journey was preceded by some confusion when we were picked up an hour late by a complete stranger. Apparently, the clinic driver whom we had hired had "brokered" the deal to some other person. We were expecting an SUV, but instead, the man who called himself "Michael", showed up in an extended cab pickup truck. Leaving us with little options, we climbed aboard and proceeded to pick up the 2 Baylor interns, which made for a very cozy ride (my left cheeks were both uncomfortably pressed against the rear passenger door for almost 4 hours). But all in all, I was just happy that the rain had, at least temporarily, subsided and that we were making the trip happen. 

I swear, I'm tall back where I come from....

The excitement came to a screeching halt when we encountered a line of parked cars immediately before arriving at the first bridge crossing. Or at least what we assumed to be the crossing, since the bridge itself was no longer visible due to the flooding. In fact, the water level reached the window of most cars. Our driver hesitated only momentarily before deciding to hit the gas pedal and push onward. I think we all stopped breathing for a few seconds when the current actually pushed the truck sideways but with a little luck and some help from above, the driver quickly regained control and we made it safely to land with only a few odd sounds coming from under the hood. We crossed 2 more flooded bridges during our journey but fortunately, the current passing through those was not as strong as the initial one. 

2 women we picked up in Roma, a town not too far from Maseru

2 (and a half) women that rode with us all the way to Semongkong, where we parted ways

The rest of the trip took place along an unpaved, pothole filled path that constantly jostled us around the backseat (and of course, no seatbelts - who needs those in Africa?) Thank goodness someone packed the Zofran (anti-nausea medication) - otherwise, we might have all been pretty sick by the end of the ride. Needless to say, we were really hoping for an uneventful rest of the trip. However, "Michael" decided that we would act as the local transport service for hitchhikers along the way. So we literally stopped every 30 minutes or so, picking up random people on the side of the road. By the time we reached Semongkong, we had 11 people (I counted them) riding in the bed of the pickup, piled on top of each other. We would seriously not have been surprised if he had picked up a sheep or goat had our trip been any longer. I think he charged them anywhere from 5 to 15 Maloti ($1-2 USD) per person. That's what I call wheeling and dealing! As a funny (but unfortunate) side note, one of the interns actually needed to use the bathroom so badly halfway through the drive that she actually jumped out of the car during one of our hitchhiker stops and ran straight to the bushes as our "audience" of passengers laughed and pointed at her. Was I glad that I hadn't had anything to drink that morning!

Semongkong Lodge, beautifully located off the river

Holds the Guiness World Record for the longest single drop abseil  - maybe next time...

Anyways, we arrived at Semongkong Lodge a little after noon, and once we settled into our rondavels, we ducked into the restaurant for lunch. We each had a gyro-looking meal accompanied by french fries (apparently french fries are the side du jour in Lesotho) that tasted absolutely delicious. We then signed up for pony trekking to the waterfall after finding out that abseiling was not available because the river level was too high and dangerous at this time. So off we rode into the muddy distance.... 

I'm at the back of the group...again. But at least the view is stunning

Me and "Dr. Jekyll" (except I think he's Mr. Hyde at the moment)

As I seem to have an affinity for attracting the "naughty" horses, I was assigned to a brown beast, whom I nicknamed "Dr. Jekyll." I initially thought of calling him "Droopy," because he was the slowest of the bunch, with his head down all of the time, dragging his hooves, and always straying from the path. For no apparent reason, however, he would suddenly perk up and start galloping at full speed until he was in the lead. Once we caught up to the group, he actively started biting at the other horses until they were separated by our guide. And just as quickly as this mood swing had started, it would disappear and he would revert to lagging behind and drooping his head. He kept up this alternating behavior for the remainder of the 2.5 hour ride, leaving me with a very sore behind. 

But I digress - back to the main attraction.... We arrived at the Maletsunyane Falls just as the thunderstorm approached our direction. The travel guides and pictures I had seen online were not kidding. This was the most breathtaking waterfall I have ever seen in my life! It even made the waterfall we had seen in Malelea seem like a trickle! And I was able to see for myself how the "smoke" seemed to rise from the mist of the water. I only wish that the weather was better so that we could have hiked down to the bottom of it. At least we were able to take some great pictures of the falls before having to jump back on our horses and hurry back to the lodge. We made it about halfway back before being caught in the rain, which coupled with the freezing temperature (there was actually snow on the ground), made for a miserable ride back. And despite being drenched from head to toe, unable to move my then purple fingers and having ice on my nose, we made it back to the lodge safely and thawed by the fireplace in the room. By the time we sat around the table at the restaurant for dinner, we were all laughing and exchanging pictures of our adventure. Of course, the several glasses of wine we had with our cauliflower soup and beef fillets could have had something to do with our jovial mood. And the creme brulee....Mmmmm!! Funny how complete strangers can bond over times like these...

Our rondavel (aka: "hut") where we stayed overnight

Our bunk bed accomodations

The fireplace we tried to keep alive, but failed miserably (we did manage to turn the stone black, though)

The fireplace in our room actually created more smoke than actual heat, so we took turns feeding the fire but eventually, I think we all passed out from carbon monoxide inhalation. We awoke the next morning to the sound of chirping birds and the soothing passage of the river along our hut. There was still snow on the  roof of the lodge but the sun was shining and from our windows, we had the best views we could have asked for. Breakfast included eggs Benedict with freshly ground coffee. Not knowing how long we had before Mother Nature graced us with her daily thunderstorm we decided to hike along the river on our own. 

We hiked for about 2 hours before we were met with the "police commander," who demanded that we tell him why were were trespassing private property. Not wanting to create any more trouble, we attempted to cross the river immediately. This turned out to be a harder task than it seemed, as the rocks we were jumping on as stepping stones were not at all firm and inevitably, we each took turns falling into the river and then slipping on the mud-covered hills during our climb upward. I think we might have each sprained a different area of our body, with my wrist suffering the weight of my falls - hopefully nothing with permanent consequences. It was a fun experience and an incredible work-out. I am choosing to blame my constant shortness of breath on the altitude. Anyways, we made it back for lunch: lambchops and french fries. Then we played some pool before our driver arrived to pick us up. 

Unlike my 5 foot 7 inch colleagues, my legs were not long enough to reach the next stepping stone, so I fell into the river shortly after this picture was taken (but at least the camera stayed dry)

She cleared the water by jumping onto the tree branches, but then slipped and fell in the mud surrounding the tree...

This intern fell bottom first into the river, not only soaking all of her jeans, but leaving her shoe trapped in the mud

The drive back was very similar to the one I previously described, with the exception of the flooded bridges. This time, we could actually make out the concrete. We filled up the truck bed with hitchhikers once again and dropped them off in Maseru. It was sunset by the time we were dropped off at the Cottage. Though there we encountered some difficult moments during the trip, I have to say, it was worth every minute. A very memorable way to end my stay in Lesotho. Now for the South Africa portion of my African Adventure....

Cool looking cactus - reminded me of my Mom's love for plants. This one is for you!!