I’m in Maseru, Lesotho for a few weeks doing a short term
project and thought I’d take advantage of being in a new and wonderful place, and
try to scout out some local honey. But before I get into that I want to give
you a little background on Lesotho (or rather, The Kingdom of Lesotho). Most
people that I talked to about my trip didn’t know where it was. To tell the
truth, I had to pull out a map the first time I heard of it too.
Lesotho is a small, mountainous country completely surrounded
by South Africa. If you look for South Africa on the map, you’ll see a circular
country southeast of Johannesburg. That is Lesotho. If you pay attention to the
markings on the map that show mountains you’ll see that Lesotho is just full of
lots of mountains. The so-called “low lands” which border South Africa all
around its edge are not very low at all, at about 1,000 to 1,600 meters above
sea level. In fact, Lesotho is unique in that it is the only country entirely
above 1,000 m, and is known as the ‘Kingdom in the Sky.’ Does it live up to
being in the sky?
You bet.
Fascinating clouds at sunset in Maseru, Lesotho |
I could do nothing but look at the sky all day while
I’m here. It seems so close. I’ve never been to Montana (the big sky state) but
I wonder if the sky there is as mesmerizing. In Lesotho the air is crisp and
clear, the clouds take on the most unusual shapes from billowing puffs to sheets
of feathery wisps- and they have such depth and expanse. Sunrises and sunsets
are spectacular. The views from elevated spaces defy words. Magical does not
begin to describe this place.
However, before I arrived, given all the mountains on the
map, I thought Lesotho would be like Switzerland, with needle sharp mountain
ranges, and up and down and around driving on roads hugging the edges of cliffs.
Sheets of clouds over a mountain at sunset in Maseru, Lesotho |
Well, Switzerland without all the very cold, very snowy bits (although Lesotho
does get snow in winter especially at the highest elevations) or lederhosen. I’ve
since discovered that it isn’t like Switzerland at all. The mountains, at least
in the low lands, seem old and weathered, with large flat plateaus on their
tops, and they dot large valleys of flat lands where people grow maize, and
sorghum (among other things). For being
so high up and having so many mountains there is A LOT of flat space. If you
are in a valley looking at the mountains, they seem to come in ones and twos
rather than as a range. However, I’ve not been in the interior, where the
higher mountains are, so it may be different there.
There are also A LOT of rivers (and dams) here, and water is
an important export to South Africa. It is the end of summer, and there has
been a drought for the last two years (although I hear from locals that this
year has been much better for water). Many of the river beds are dry- and these
are called dongas (not sure of the spelling).
Puffy white clouds you can almost touch at Thaba Bosiu, Lesotho |
These dry (or nearly dry) river
beds carve deep cuts into the earth though, making it easy to imagine how much
water they hold when the spring thaw comes.
But back to honey. It is my first time in sub-Saharan Africa
and I was very excited to see what the local honey scene is. Imagine how
disappointed I was when Me Zinnia, the owner of the house I’m staying at, told
me that there is no local honey scene. Any honey produced, she said, is
generally consumed by the family and not for sale, or is imported from South
Africa. The Pick and Pay supermarket seemed to confirm this as they only have
honey from South Africa (and seemingly mass produced at that). But I wondered
if local honey was more likely to be sold in a local market than in a
supermarket (hope springs eternal). I checked out the open market where small
stalls sell everything from sandals to fruit and didn’t see any either. Not
good. Not good at all. But just when I thought I’d cross the border into South
Africa to get local (and not mass produced) South African honey (the next best
thing to Lesotho honey), my luck changed.
It changed as I was hiking Thaba Bosiu (the night mountain,
so named because it seemed to grow in the night to those who tried to climb it
then- at least that is one story; the other is that King Moshoeshoe and his
people arrived at the flat mountaintop at night).
Views from the plateau at Thaba Bosiu looking at the mountains in the interior. |
But before I go on about the honey find I want to insert a
little bit about Thaba Bosiu. It is spectacular and has an important place in
Lesotho history. It can only be reached from a handful of passes that are
easily defended (think rocky walking paths where you have to go one by one). On
top there is a massive plateau where you have commanding views of all the
valleys around it, and a natural spring feeds it. Moshoeshoe gathered his
people on Thaba Bosiu and from this defensible mountaintop established
relationships with chiefs throughout the country (mostly by marrying their
daughters- 140 in total) thereby creating an extended political network, and
ultimately uniting the country under one ruler, King Moshoeshoe I.
View from Thaba Bosiu looking into the valley below. |
This all
happened in the 1820s. For more information, I recommend David Fleminger book
“Lesotho Southbound Travel Guide.” On the hike you can drink water from the
spring, visit King Moshoeshoe I (and II) graves (many Lesotho royalty are
buried there), and see King Moshoeshoe I’s house. You can also be completely
overwhelmed by the views. If you are near Maseru, it is a quick day trip to
Thaba Bosiu and I highly recommend it.
But back to the honey. While I was hiking I noticed honey
bees and asked our guide, a local man, about (what else) honey. He informed me
that there was local honey production, in fact it was very local.
Ntate Maccae's bee hives |
After the
hike he directed me to Ntate Maccae, an apiarist who was a stone’s throw away.
After getting lost just a little and asking directions to Ntate Maccae’s house
from a teenager looking after a small child (my friends and I speak next to no
Sesotho and we were very lucky that she understood me), we found Ntate Maccae’s
house and met his wife. Yes, they produced honey and yes, we could buy some. It
came in a plastic honey jar with a yellow lid with no label. She said the two
jars we bought were her last but her husband was out harvesting more and if we
brought our own container they could fill it later on. I instantly thought of
the 1 liter plastic bottle I had in my room… With luck we will make it back to
Ntate Maccae’s before I leave for home.
The honey is a mellow, orange yellow color, clear in a small
sample, but somewhat cloudy in the jar. It is a runny honey but medium runny- I
could swirl some on a toothpick without too much effort. It has honey sweet
first taste that is not complex, and then an herby, slightly medicinal taste
(sweet not bitter) at the end. I liken it to a eucalyptus taste.
Ntate Maccae's honey. |
Very tasty and
very different from other honeys I’ve had from Africa. My guess is that the
floral sources are low growing shrubs and herbs (there are few trees in the
area with the exception of some eucalyptus and a few others). On the hike I
noticed a flowering herb (yellow flowers) that resembled sage to me but the
leaves were much smaller- perhaps it was one of the sources.
I’m afraid you won’t be able to get this honey online or at
the store. You’ll just have to come to Lesotho to pick some up. Directions to
Ntate Maccae’s can be obtained from the guide at the visitor center of Thaba
Bosui. What other excuse do you need to visit the Kingdom in the sky?
Loved this well-written article and the photos. Makes you feel like visiting the Kingdom of Lesotho and tasting a very rare honey.
ReplyDelete@ Benedicte- if you ever go and manage to find Ntate Maccae's house, give my regards to Me Maccae. She was very gracious in welcoming us into her home. And don't forget to take a liter container with you...
ReplyDelete❤this is beautiful; I like it God is good! Honey combo!Ntate Maccae is an ambitious man!
ReplyDelete