A week in Lesotho, land of blankets, where the Basotho speak Sesotho
And so we reach both country #112 and enclave #1. The world hosts only three of these landlocked countries completely surrounded by another country and each has a fantastic origin story. Lesotho, for example, was created by as Basutoland by King Moshoeshoe in 1822. He saved it from the Boers through vigorous fighting and political powerplay (he made it a British protectorate to ward off the Dutch). Sadly, when Mashoeshoe died in 1870 the “protective” British turned colonists, ruling Basutoland until it became independent Lesotho in 1966.
Some of this history is covered in this week’s book: Singing away the hunger by Mpho ‘M’atsepo Nthunya. It is the story of Nthunya’s life from birth in 1930 to the release of Nirvana’s In Utero in 1993. She believes in both Christian prayer and witchcraft and deals stoically with everything that befalls her, from being abducted by her in-laws to losing her children and father in tragic circumstances. Her later years are spent as a “domestic help” and it is through that she meets the woman who supports her to write and publish her autobiography. This fortunate meeting could be replete with dodgy power imbalances but I trusted the narrative and enjoyed the opportunity to read what would otherwise have been a hidden history. The internet is remarkably silent on Nthunya’s post-book life, so if you know, please don’t keep it to yourself!
Given the many traumas that Nthunya suffers, it was pleased to watch this week’s film The Forgotten Kingdom. It’s the tale of an angry Basotho youth who now lives in Johannesburg. When his estranged father dies he agrees to bring the body home… From then on it is the classic tale of a hard-nosed city boy learning the wonder of country life through the calm, generous kind ways of his kinfolk. He even falls in love with a local woman whose father doesn’t take kindly to this boy from Johannesburg. It’s made less cliched by the side story of the love interest struggling to care for her sister who has AIDS, and the expected resolution is still heartwarming. I could easily criticise the lack of agency in the female roles, but given the experience outlined by Nthunya, it is clear that life can certainly be worse. One great thing about the film was that I finally understood the importance of the blankets that Nthuya mentioned regularly. They are worn daily in Lesotho and date back to King Moshoeshoe who was gifted a wool blanket by a British official. He liked it so much that he used it to replace the traditional leopard-skin kaross with it, establishing the blanket as a key element of Basotho dress.
Although I did not have a blanket to wear while I cooked this week’s meal, I had been gifted a rather impressively intricate, and dusty, Lesothan hat. It sat jauntily on my head while I ate this week’s meal Chakalaka — one of the first dishes that I can honestly say went well with the normally hard to stomach cornmeal pap. Chakalaka is a side-dish that can and should be turned into the main meal of any Lesothan party. It is a mix of veggies, beans, and spices that goes well with one of this week’s drinks — ginger beer. The Basotho like it slightly fermented and home-made, but I ran out of time so just bought a bottle and then chucked some booze in.
Similarly for this week’s second drink — rooibos tea — I did not go out of my way to buy a Lesothan variety, plumping instead for whatever Twinings sold! It was orange flavoured, and the perfect refreshing start to the day. Would recommend.
So that just leaves this week’s music. Someone out there was kind to me and has already created an album showcasing the music of Lesotho, and of course Paul Simon controversially recorded part of his album Graceland with Lesotho group Tau Ea Matsekha. You can listen to more of their music here. And with that, I head North to Liberia for the next armchair adventure.
