A week of surprises

Last Friday, having settled on having a quiet weekend in Maseru we decided to head to Clarens and the Golden Gate Highlands Park in the South African Free State for a bit more exploring and potentially some hiking. The weekend was glorious weather – sunny bright blue skies and not too cold. Since the world cup has finished the jams at the border crossings seems to have eased which makes trips like this a bit easier. Clarens itself is a bit of a unique place. A central grass square lined on all sides with cafes, deli’s, antique shops and art galleries. People are walking around and sitting at the roadsides drinking a beer or having a cup of tea (not really seen this in any other place in SA). It sits amid a range of hills so the scenery is lovely but it did feel more like a village you would find in the Canadian Rockies rather than in Africa. On the Saturday we relaxed and explored Clarens itself and then on Sunday we put on our hiking gear and headed to the nearby Golden Gate Highlands Park which is at the beginning of the Drakensburg Mountain range. Impressive though it was, the scale and beauty of Lesotho has certainly spoiled us and we felt a little uninspired and ended up driving through the park and out the other side to see what else we could find. At least we looked the part sitting in the Jeep wearing out outdoor wear!

We decided to enter back into Lesotho via a new border crossing which was a bit like a mini ‘sani-pass’. The dirt track then led us alongside the Caledon River (the river that marks the border between Lesotho and South Africa). At points you could easily have one foot in each country. Our 2 hour journey led us through the mountains and through village after village. The grass had turned a rusty red in the winter and most of the streams had dried up. It was beautiful and new territory for us. We ended up picking up some hitch-hikers along the way, a couple of young footballers who were off to play their weekly game of soccer on the only flat football pitch for miles around. They said it takes them 2 hours to walk there and 2 back – that’s dedication! They were lovely guys and obviously enjoyed the experience of going by Jeep as they waved and hooted at their friends. We then picked up a miner who had come home to see his family for ‘month’s end’ and was starting the long journey back to North of Jo’Burg to the Gold mines for his next month of work. He had a hacking cough and I could tell Matt was just itching to get his doctor’s hat on and investigate this miner’s lung, but instead we let the guy rest and enjoy the journey.

After a lovely weekend the working week has been varied. Matt had his meeting with the Public Service Commission, after which they decide whether to give him an employment contract and pay him. An interesting way round to do things considering Matt has been working here for 6 months already. But at least it has happened. The ENT department had some excitement yesterday morning as we closed the waiting room so that a bullet could be extracted from a patient’s neck! It took a while as the bullet kept moving but the patient was up and about after so all went well. I saw my oldest patient and youngest patients so far yesterday, a lady of 76 years and a 11 month old baby. Certainly keeps you on your toes.

We had a surprise guest staying this week with us in the flat. Yesterday morning I opened the boiler cupboard to find a bemused pigeon staring back at me. I was late for work so decided to free him when I came home for lunch. The pigeon obviously had other ideas – when I got home it was downstairs settled in a blanket on the sofa with playing cards out on the table and the radio on the floor. Perhaps it had been doing this all week and I only just caught him in the act!

Today, we are off for a....drum roll....Bridge weekend! We are heading to Ramabanta lodge which is 1 half hours from Maseru for a weekend of Bridge and walking with Hesse and Kathy. Matt is super-excited as it is combining both a trip in Jeepy and 2 whole days of Bridge, his idea of perfection I think.