Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Day 7 10/18/10

The day started early so we could have enough time to pack the car, have breakfast and check out of Semonkong Lodge in Lesotho.  We left the lodge at 8:30 and made the 60 or so kilometer trip down what is more rock, gullies and pot holes than road.  We finally arrived in Maseru to do a little shopping, we went back to the tourist bureau and the Lesotho Hat to pick up a few souvenirs.  We had lunch at Regal and Indian restaurant, it I had a chicken and spinach dish which was absolutely fantastic, perhaps the best Indian food I have ever had.  After lunch we headed toward Teyateyaneng and arts and crafts town especially known for weaving.  Our first stop was Helang Basali, a cooperative of women weavers working in the original St. Agnes Mission building.  They specialize in traditional fine frame loomed products.   The shop and store front were very simple but filled with beautiful woolen tapestries.  Will and I both place orders from their catalog, which they will ship when completed!   I bought a few other smaller things so I could have something to take home and enjoy immediately!  We hit a few other weaving shops before we headed to the boarder to cross back into South Africa.  The first boarder crossing was closed when we arrived we missed it by an hour.   We headed down the road a bit to the next crossing only to find that when we entered Lesotho through the Maseru crossing they did not stamp our passports correctly.  They stamped us a departing and now we had to explain why we didn’t have an entry stamp.  Will smoothed things over in a way only he can do, that is after we had an earful from the passport control agent.  She finally corrected out passports and filled out the paperwork we should have filled out upon entry and sent us on our way.  Needless to say we were quite relieved when South African passport control stamped us through without a hitch.   We arrived at Glen Reenen Rest Camp, Golden Gate National Park.  The accommodations are also rondavel structures and the room is quite comfortable and it has a TV, but no internet.  In the room there is “Beware of Baboons” sign, they apparently can be quite a nuisance.  Since this is a self catering room we had dinner at the Golden Gate Hotel (four star hotel) which is down the road.  The meal was very good and a inexpensive by US standards.  Tomorrow we are hitting the road again taking in the sites in the park and I am sure taking quite a few pictures.

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