Into Lesotho - 320km

FOURIESBURG

...lies within the territory disputed by the Basotho under Moshoeshoe I, resulting in the Basotho wars of 1858, 1865 and 1867. In terms of the Treaty of Thaba Bosiu, signed in 1866 by Chief Paulus Mopeli (Moshoeshoe’s brother), the areas of Fouriesburg, Clarens, the Little Caledon River and Witsieshoek were awarded to the Orange Free State. Fouriesburg also figured in the South African War: following the occupation of Bloemfontein by British forces in March 1900, the Boer forces fell back to the Brandwater Basin, establishing a provisional government at Fouriesburg and making the town their headquarters. The British sealed off five of the six passes giving access to the basin and encountered little resistance from the Boers when they attacked Slabbert’s Nek on 23 July. The only remaining exit, the Golden Gate, was sealed off on 28 July and the following day General Marthinus Prinsloo and 4 300 men surrendered. About 20 km east of Fouriesburg, a memorial to the British and Boer forces killed in battle marks the site of Surrender Hill, where the Boers laid down their arms. General JH Olivier, however, refused to recognise the surrender and escaped with 1 500 men through the Golden Gate. In Fouriesburg itself is the house where President Marthinus Steyn lived during the town’s brief tenure as a capital city.

FICKSBURG

...lies in a magnificent setting between the Mpharane (Imperani) Mountains and the western banks of the Caledon River. Founded in 1867, the town was named after Commandant-General Johan Fick, who commanded the Boer forces in the Third Basotho War. The town is centred around a nucleus of three sandstone buildings: the old Magistrate’s Court, built in the late 19th century, the Town Hall (1897) and the Post Office (1907). The Magistrate’s Court now serves as a museum devoted to the town’s history and the cherry industry.

The fertile valley of the Caledon River here is covered with wheatlands, fields of asparagus and cherry orchards, and is especially attractive during the first three weeks of September when the white cherry blossoms transform the valley into a fairy-tale landscape. The cool, mild winter temperatures are ideally suited to growing cherries, and the Ficksburg region has become the largest producer of this fruit in South Africa. Twelve cultivars are grown, with yellow cherries being produced for the glacé industry and ‘red’ cherries sold for fresh consumption. In November the town hosts the annual Cherry Festival.

CLOCOLAN

...takes its name from the Sesotho word hlohloloane, which is translated as ‘bump and fight’ – a reference to a dispute over a basket of wheat. Situated to the west of Prynn’s Mountain, the town was laid out on two farms in 1906. The cherry industry of the eastern Free State originated in the Clocolan district, where the first trees were planted by Henry Pickstone in 1904. The surrounding farms are also important producers of wheat, maize and potatoes. Handwoven carpets, rugs, jerseys and other articles are produced by Lethoteng Weavers, a community project, at an informal factory in the town.

MODDERPOORT

...ranks as one of South Africa’s top cultural attractions and features San rock art, Iron Age remains and the well-known Cave Church. The 6 000-ha farm Modderpoort was bought for the Society of St Augustine by Bishop Twells in 1869. The first place of worship was a rock shelter, which was ingeniously converted into a church by building a wall, incorporating a door and window, across the entrance. The priory was built in 1871 and the sandstone church was completed in 1902. The graves of missionaries who worked here can still be seen, as well as the grave of the Basotho prophetess, Mantsopa Makheta. Fearing that she would become too powerful, Moshoeshoe sent her into exile to Modderpoort in the late 1860s, where she converted to Christianity. Following her conversion, it appears that she practised a combination of traditional ancestor worship and Christianity. Pilgrims still visit her grave.

LADYBRAND

...lies at the foot of the amphitheatre formed by the Platberg amid picturesque sandstone outcrops and grasslands. Established as a frontier post in 1867 in territory conquered from the Basotho, the settlement was named after Lady Catherina Brand, wife of Sir Christoffel Brand, the first Speaker of the Cape Legislative Assembly, and the mother of Johannes Brand, President of the Free State. Situated close to Maseru, Ladybrand is the main gateway to Lesotho and is also an important agricultural and trading centre. In common with other eastern Free State towns, the town has several splendid sandstone buildings, among them the Dutch Reformed Church, the old Magistrate’s Court and the secondary school (1905). Overlooking the town is The Stables, a 30-m-high rock crevice used by the Boers to stable their horses during the Basotho War of 1858. There are also numerous rock painting sites in and around the town, among them Tripolitania in the Tandjiesberg. The Catherina Brand Museum contains the fossil remains of a dinosaur known as Euskelosaurus and a display on the printing industry in the Free State.

LESOTHO

Also known as the Mountain Kingdom and the Kingdom in the Sky, Lesotho is the only country in the world with all its territory above 1 000 m. Except for the Lowlands in the west, it is an extremely rugged land, characterised by high mountains dissected by deep river valleys. Lesotho is home to the Basotho people, who emerged as a nation between 1815 and 1820 when Moshoeshoe united the remnants of various Sesotho-speaking tribes dispersed by the Mfecane. Disputes with the Voortrekkers over land led to three wars between 1858 and 1867, and in March 1868 Basotholand was annexed by the British. When the territory’s borders were demarcated, the area west of the Caledon River, referred to by the Basotho as the Conquered Territory, was excluded. In 1884 Basotholand became a High Commission territory, and at independence, on 4 October 1966, changed its name to Lesotho. Blankets were first imported into Basotholand in the 1860s, and still form an integral part of Basotho life. During ceremonies such as the circumcision of boys, a blanket indicates whether a man is married or not, and blankets are also worn on special occasions. Another hallmark of the Basotho is the distinctive conical straw hat, known variously as tlhoro, mokorotlo or molianyeo. It has been suggested that the hat owes its shape to Qiloane, a cone-shaped mountain near Moshoeshoe’s stronghold of Thaba Bosiu. Although Lesotho’s road network has improved considerably during the last 20 years, the Basotho pony is still an important means of transport in the remote mountain villages. Small-stock farming with angora goats and sheep is the main economic activity, while maize and vegetables are cultivated in river valleys. Much of the country’s income is, however, derived from migrant labour, although the massive Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which began in 1991, has provided a much-needed economic boost to this poor and landlocked country.

MASERU

Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, lies on the eastern bank of the Mohokare, or Caledon River, and its Sesotho name is translated as ‘the place of red sandstone’. The city developed around a police camp that was established in 1869 by Commandant JH Bowker, Agent of the British High Commissioner for South Africa. Situated at a ford across the river, a bustling trading centre soon sprung up. During the Gun War (1880–81), the settlement came under frequent attack, and several outlying buildings were set alight when Maseru was attacked in October 1880. In 1884, when the first Resident Commissioner, Colonel Marshall Clarke, was appointed, Maseru became the administrative centre for Basotholand. The town’s development accelerated with the opening of a railway line and a road bridge across the Caledon River in December 1905. In the 1960s, many South Africans were attracted to Maseru when casinos – prohibited in South Africa at that time – opened in the capital. However, tourist numbers dropped dramatically following the introduction of legal gambling in the ‘independent’ homelands. Political instability in the latter half of 1998 resulted in the burning of several buildings in Maseru.

TEYATEYANENG

Also known simply as TY, Teyateyaneng owes its name to the Teja-Tejane River, a name variously interpreted as meaning ‘the winding little river’, or ‘quicksands’. Prior to becoming the headquarters of the Berea district of Basotholand (Lesotho), it was preceded by two earlier settlements, both known as Advanced Post. A site for a new district headquarters was agreed on between the Resident Commissioner, Sir Godfrey Lagden, and Chief Masopha in February 1886. The deal was struck after the Chief indicated that he was willing to pay taxes on condition that he had his own district headquarters. A further condition was that he could recruit police from his own people. TY is famous for its weaving industry, and there are two weaving workshops where fine rugs and tapestries 6 are produced from pure mohair sheared from angora goats in the Maloti Mountains.

HLOTSE

...was founded in 1876 when Major Charles Bell, one of four magistrates of Basotholand, moved the seat of his magistracy to this spot. The town is the headquarters of the Leribe district, but, confusingly, Hlotse was often called Leribe in the past. In the years following its establishment, the town was besieged during the Gun War (1880–81). Of historic interest is a tower, the only remaining part of the fort built by Bell, and the Anglican Church built by the Reverend John Widdicombe in 1877. A few kilometres north is the Leribe Mission, founded in 1859 by the French missionary, François Coillard. Not to be missed are the dinosaur tracks in the bed of the Subeng River, north of Hlotse, where two rows of about 23 tracks made by a five-toed dinosaur are imprinted in the rock.

BUTHA-BUTHE

...is named after the sandstone plateau 2 km east of the town where Moshoeshoe established a stronghold in 1820 before moving to Thaba Bosiu in 1824. The name means ‘place of lying down’, or ‘place of reclining’, and has been interpreted as referring either to three nearby hills that resemble reclining lions, or to the fact that Moshoeshoe rested here. Butha-Buthe was founded in 1884 so that the Basotho people  could pay their taxes at the town instead of travelling to Hlotse (Leribe), and serves as the headquarters of the country’s smallest and northernmost district. It is also the gateway to Oxbow (site of a ski resort) and the Roof of Africa road – the oldest trans-Lesotho route – which links Butha-Buthe and the Sani Pass.