lesotho, part 1

In between the end of classes and the beginning of finals we had a nice big window with no commitments, so a group of five of us decided to go on an excursion down to South Africa and Lesotho and then up to Victoria Falls. The story really can't be told without the pictures from the trip, but while I'm waiting on the photos, I thought I'd throw my journal entries from the trip up on here as a teaser. enjoy

After a marathon drive yesterday during which our friend Bryce was an extremely impressive driver and leader (a theme that continued for the next 11 days) we got into Sani Lodge Backpackers in the Drakensburg Mountain National Park of South Africa, just southeast of Lesotho. We arrived at 8:50 pm, leaving us just enough time to check-in before reception closed at 9:00 pm.

We set up our tent in the dark, which was quite the feat, and loaded it up with blankets and sheets. We moved to the kitchen/common room and heated and stirred together our preemptively cooked pasta. We sat around a table in the common room with a fire glowing and fellow backpackers resting and relaxing. It was Good Friday and as such, a group was reading bible verses out loud to one another. We stayed up telling stories and playing cards. Bryce fell asleep on the couch and eventually the rest of us started to fade and so the boys and I retired to the tent and the girls headed for the car.

The night air certainly had a bite to it – we could see our breath and my three layers of clothes still left me shivering.

The next night Derek, Audrey, Katie and I started a game of Spaids that, little did we know, would last for the entire 11 day trip.

Fried bratwurst and beetroot and macaroni for dinner…