So here goes a trip. As the world is about to shut down all borders. Here we go.
After a week of grueling work and switching go/no-go decisions every five minutes, Erica and I decide to get on the plane- at least to New York.
I hop on my typical shaky flight outta SLC and make it to JFK by morning. Night 1 on a plane. I meet up with Erica who spent the night at JFK after switching her original ticket through London to go through New York. It was great to see her after a week of a million calls/texts/emotions to figure out if we were going or not.
I feel like this blog should start days before the actual start of the trip... insert here: coronavirus hysteria. That about sums it up. On the more personal level, Cat had to drop out of the trip because she’s a nurse and she would have to be quarantined for at least two weeks, putting her out of work for about a month combined with this trip. Not good.
I’ve never worried so much from the media, nor do I let things like this affect my travels, but I was very hot/cold on this one. What if I have the virus and don’t know it, then spread it to Lesotho who does not have the infrastructure for it?? It’s colonialism/imperialism all over again. For selfish travel.
Writing that makes me think I shouldn’t have come. I really shouldn’t have.
But I’m here, so here’s the story:
Erica and I meet up in JFK and discuss if we want to get on the flight to Johannesburg. We were both pretty positive about it, and calling Caroline helped too. She had every moment/activity planned so we could be present but also not come in close contact with the village. That is, if we make it into Lesotho. Earlier in the week, all government officials were banned from international travel; a news article that was twisted around by different sources making us unsure if we could get into Lesotho at all.
The 15-hour flight to Johannesburg was near delightful. Apparently it’s not super packed anyways, but with the onslaught hysteria the flight was maybe half full. No one sat next to someone they didn’t know. I was in a row with a wonderful lady named Judy, but she ended up moving back to sit next to her husband since his row was free. I was a little bummed, but I quickly got past it since it meant I had a whole row to myself. I watched one movie- Aladdin (live action). It was meh. Some of the new stuff I actually liked, but they totally left out/messed up some of the best parts of the movie, so I’m now anxious to see the real thing again. Otherwise I slept (Night 2 on a plane) and worked. It was great. One can assume so many different sleeping positions with an entire three-seat row; each seat with its own set of blanket and pillow. Honestly it was a lot to manage at some points, but I made it through somehow.
After the wonderful flight, we finally make it to Johannesburg. While passengers are unloading their carry-ons, an announcement comes over to tell everyone to sit back down for temperature checks from the South African government. We all get beeped and are allowed to get off the plane. The airport was magnificent, and after exchanging some money we make our way to the car rental place. It took a while to get the car, but we finally got it and were on our way.
Driving on the left side of the car/road was tricky, but Erica handled it like a champ. After failing to successfully switch drivers, I got a turn later on to try it out, and drove into Lesotho. Here was the big moment. Would we be let in?? We had a few backup plans in our back pockets, but we were still nervous. Even still, if we get through, should we stay? Will Lesotho close its border while we’re inside?
It was the most chill border crossing I’ve ever been to. A bit packed because of everyone driving, but I wasn’t asked any questions, let alone said “hello” to.
I drive into Lesotho, and after a handful of backouts, accidental turns, taxi passings, and fearless pedestrians, we finally make it to KFC to meet up with Caroline. It was unbelievable to see her, and in Lesotho!! We hadn’t seen each other since the day I left the house for Berlin. So much has changed in both of our lives since then. We finally ate lunch and Carol helped with our SIM cards. We discussed whether or not to stay in Lesotho, and ultimately decided it would be ok, and we were off to her village (about 30km/1.5h from Maputsoe).
The roads were suited only for 4-wheel drives and were starkly opposite from the South African road network (although the main road in Maputsoe was recently repaved and is now one of the best in the country). Erica was once again a champ and handled the rough terrain super well. Pretty intimidating thing to do in a rental. Good thing we got that insurance.
We make it to Carol’s hut just before sunset so we had just enough sunlight to meet her family. They were all very kind and welcoming, maybe a little apprehensive as well. Luckily their English was great- I’ve been impressed with everyone here and their language skills. Not fluent but definitely conversational.
We went inside to make dinner aka snacks until we got a knock on the door (more like a “koko” which is the announcement in place of knocking on the door). In walk a boy and a girl who tell Palela (Caroline) they’re visiting. Hilarious. They plug their phones in to charge and ask to play Taboo which we happily agree to. They were very fun- Deseyma and Lorata, neighbor kids. They’re both 16 and Deseyma is the youngest herd boy in the village. His smile is absolutely beaming and radiant. They were both very fun and we played until about 10pm, way past Caroline’s bed time lol.
Erica takes her first bucket bath and has raving reviews after. We snuggle into bed with Carol on the floor (part of the coronavirus deal) and fall fastttt asleep.
2025-02-07