Greetings and warm holiday wishes!
It's 11pm on Christmas Eve (Santa comes soon!) and I'm watching Love Actually with a friend. It's definitely not the traditional Christmas Eve for me, but it's very nice in a way.
We started cooking at around 3 (even though neither of us were super hungry). Dinner consisted of garlic steamed green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, and spaghetti with a delicious chunky sauce. Dessert was an attempt at Christmas cookies - I think the dough was a bit too runny, so they just mushed together... we named it a cookie loaf. It tasted great but looked a bit questionable. Anyway, we were most of the way done with cooking (we only had pasta left to cook) when the electricity went out. Normally, that's not a problem, but we were using an electric stove... so it was a problem. Thankfully, I had heated water in an electric water heater earlier (to eventually use for the pasta), so we just poured some of it on the pasta, to try and let them soak it up. Neither of us were sure if it would work and if the pasta would actually cook. About ten or fifteen minutes later, we drained that water and added more new hot water. It actually cooked the pasta - amazing!
Dinner was by candlelight (like most of my dinners in this country, hah) and we ate and talked for quite a while before the power eventually came back on! It was our own little Christmas miracle - plus it makes one heck of a story.
Almost a week ago, I made my way up to Mokhotlong, one of the most remote districts in Lesotho, to visit friends there. After a 12-hour travel day, I arrived in the mountains to a freshly baked loaf of bread - so delicious. We spent time in her village and camptown, and made the trek to Sani Top/Sani Pass, the border crossing that boasts the highest pub in Africa. There were four of us going, so we figured we could hire a 4+1 (standard taxi: 4 passengers, 1 driver) to bring us the 2-ish hours along the dirt road to the top of the pass. The car arrived at Sara's house around 7am and we were off. The road was indeed pretty terrible, but the mountains were gorgeous. I had my head out the window for a lot of the ride taking pictures of the landscape and scenery. After about an hour, the driver stopped at what appeared to be a small river running across the road. He got out and made some funny noises conveying to us his doubt in the ability of his vehicle to safely get us across. He got back in the car and told us he thought he could do it, but that we should get out. We scrambled out of the car and he started it up again... sure enough, it inched across the river successfully. We piled back in and continued on our merry way. This happened several more times along the way; once we even had to move some big rocks out of the way. Then we got stuck going up a hill... so we had to get out and push the car. Now I've heard stories about other volunteers having to get out and push a car that gets stuck, but I'd never done it... well, now I have. The kicker is that once the car started moving, I didn't know enough to run and jump into the back seat (think Little Miss Sunshine), so I had to hike up a huge hill behind the car.
Eventually, he stopped the car in front of another hill with a lot of big rocks jutting up (they surely would have wrecked the bottom of the car) and told us he just couldn't continue. We got out, paid him, assured him we were fine, and started hiking. The volunteers who had been to Sani before told me there was at least another hour in a taxi before we'd arrive... I wasn't sure how long we'd hike, but figured it'd be a while.
After about ten minutes of walking, we heard a mini-bus taxi coming up the road, and lucky for us, it was empty! We clambered in and relaxed the rest of the way there - no worries about whether or not that vehicle would make it! We reached Sani Top maybe an hour and a half later, and it was absolutely breathtaking. From the Lesotho side, it's very unassuming, it just looks like a road through some fields with mountains and a river around. As you get closer though, you begin to see the cliffs that drop off into the South Africa side. The border post is on the right, and shortly after you cross the border, the road seems to fall off the edge of the world.
We dropped our stuff at the Backpackers and went over to look at the cliff, take pictures, and have a drink in Africa's Highest Pub. Afternoon brought a nice nap and some card games, then back over to the pub/restaurant for dinner. The view was incredible from the restaurant - we were able to watch huge clouds roll in, and it rained all through dinner. After dinner, we sat on the couches and looked out onto the South Africa side - there was lightning off in the distance and we were at the same height as it. I have never seen lightning like that before.
Next morning, one of the other volunteers woke us up around 4am as he was looking out at the sunrise (the pass is in the East, so the sunrise was rumored to be gorgeous). Somehow, we all decided to throw warm clothes on, grab a camera and head to the edge to watch the sun rise. Best decision of that day; it was SO worth it. I have quite a few pictures of it (as best as a camera like mine can capture something so priceless).
We made it back to Mokhotlong the town with no problems! ... and went right to sleep for several hours to make up for the early morning.
There are plenty of other stories about my time in the mountains that I hope to post at some point, but knowing me and my amazing ability to disappear from my blog for months at a time, that may or may not happen. Mokhotlong, all in all, has been a blast, and I wish it was closer to my site, though I guess that would defeat the purpose.
So now it's Christmas Eve (almost Christmas Day, actually) and it feels nothing like it, except for the movies we're watching or the cards we made earlier this afternoon. It's incredibly difficult being so far away from family and friends, especially during the holidays. Each day is a new record for my longest time away from home. For some reason, this year's Christmas was much more difficult than last year. I'd hear music in the grocery store and shudder and try to tune it out. The mad mobs in all the stores just frustrated me, and the lack of snow was (and still is) painful. I definitely miss the holidays in the States.
That said, it's been a great Christmas (all things considered). I have a wonderful family, both here and at home, and I do know it. This year has gone fast, but next year will pass more quickly, and I WILL be home for Christmas... just not until next year.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year...
Love from Africa,
-Katie
