the visitors start to arrive

The weeks at work have settled into a new and more pleasant routine.  The days are still busy, but no longer as intense.  I still feel I am having a positive impact.  I also finished the first draft of a guide for the general practitioner in Lesotho.   If it gets published and distributed it should improve the care for patients with general medical problems and should also have a positive impact on our clinics.  This is however, Lesotho, and change doesn’t happen quickly so I am not going to hold my breath!

Kit’s work continues in the ENT department where she is in phase 2 of the plan to develop the service. Soon they will be able to remove one of the trips into South Africa currently required by patients needing hearing aids as they will be able to do part of the process in the department. Phase 3 (manufacturing earmoulds on-site) is on-going. Organisations have been contacted for assistance but nothing has been forthcoming....yet. It is important to remain positive.    

Last weekend we entertained the Welsh medical students who had been in Lesotho for 7 weeks.  We had sun-downers at the Lesotho Sun Hotel followed by their scrumptious buffet on the Friday evening.  With bellies still full the following morning we managed to clamber up Thaba Bosiu, which is the mountain fortress of King Moshoeshoe I.  We had last been up in March when Greg and Elonah last visited.  It was much drier, but also a little cooler which was most welcome.  We dropped the students off at the airport on Sunday and prepared ourselves for the week.

This weekend we had our first visitor from the UK for 6 months.  My uncle Bob came together with Greg and Elonah.  It was a public holiday on Friday so they were able to make it to us by lunch time giving us a long weekend to enjoy together.  Kit and I had been granted an audience with the Queen of Lesotho on Friday morning.  Unfortunately our appointment was delayed from 10 to 11 and then 4 pm.  As our guests had arrived at lunchtime we had to turn her majesty down!! 

After a short afternoon at work, we managed to get onto the road by 4pm for a weekend in Malealea.  The highlight of the trip was undoubtedly our pony trek on the Saturday.  It was the first time for Bob to be on a horse, and last time I was on one I fell off, so we thought we should take it easy!  We rode, with our guides, to a nearby waterfall.  The route took us down into a valley, then back up and round to the top of the waterfall.  On the flat there was a lot of banter between us, the horses interacted with each other and it was quite a giggle.  When we started to go downhill it fell strangely silent!  The steep rocky “paths” we took we a little intimidating, but the horses were impressively surefooted.  I sometimes wondered whether they had suction pads on their hoofs.  I occasionally looked round to see a rather worried look on Bob’s face!  We eventually made it to the top of the waterfall where we all elegantly dismounted.  We then had to walk down to the base of the falls with legs that didn’t feel as though they belonged to us.  There were a few slips but no major incidents.  Once at the bottom we were able to kick off shoes and wet feet, some of us went the whole hog and actually got into swimmers and stood under the falls.  It was a most refreshing experience!!  After the picnic lunch it was time for the trip back.
When we heard that we would be taking a different route back, there was a sigh of relief.  For the first 20 minutes our horses trotted along the top of the gorge and everyone was happy, but then the path suddenly turned downhill.  The most hair raising bit of the trip followed with a 150 metre descent in 15 minutes.  The horses took it in their stride, which is more than can be said for their riders.  After this, the worst was over and the frivolity returned to the group.  As we approached the lodge there was even a bit of cantering!  When we arrived we all posed for a photo after which we gladly returned the horses to their owners.  There was a mixed sense of relief and achievement as we supped our cool drinks in the afternoon sun and reflected.  We all ached in the most unusual places, and some of us still do!  Eventually the weekend came to an end, it was so good to have seen them and to have caught up with news and relaxed together.  We said our goodbyes and waved as Bob, Greg and Elonah went off to join the rest of South Africa at the Lesotho border.

We now have a week to prepare for the next arrivals on Friday... Kit’s parents, Peter and Sheila.  Kit and I are very excited about their trip particularly as it was a little uncertain whether they would make it for a while.  They are with us for 10 days before they continue their trip through South Africa to Cape Town.  We have a few trips planned, but the underpant-staining pony treks may have to be kept on hold.

The other very exciting news is that 235 days after starting work and after two interviews, visits to 5 ministries, and the filling in of countless forms I was finally paid on Friday.  The party is really going to get started now!!!!

Changes at work and good times away

Things have changed quite a bit in the last week, driven mainly by an improvement in my mood!  I found myself getting increasingly frustrated at work which culminated a week ago in me leaving the ward half way through a ward round!  There were numerous things frustrating me, but essentially I found myself doing too much on the frontline and therefore coming into direct contact with the inefficiencies of the system far too frequently.  I decided that something had to change.   I had a constructive discussion with the head of department after which we agreed that I would do a ward round twice a week and be available at other times but be not on the ward.  I have worked the new schedule this past week, and Kit can testify that I am feeling a great deal better!  I am still busy.  I am currently running the TB clinic three mornings a week as the usual doctor is on leave, prior to going there I go to the medical clinic for 1 ½ hours and see 40-odd patients, and in the afternoons I do a ward round on the TB ward.  I have also started doing the occasional bronchoscopy which has been enjoyable.

Last weekend (after the Friday when it all came to a head) Kit and I did some exploring near Maseru.  We went up for a relaxing time at our favourite sunset spot on the Friday evening, followed by a meal out.  On Saturday we walked on the Qeme Plateau.  This involved a 20 minute drive south of Maseru, an hour’s hike up onto the plateau and then 3 hours walking on top of it.  We managed to see about a third of it to give you a sense of scale.  We had a lovely time, getting out, doing some exercise and all so near the city.

This week has been very sociable.  We have had evenings out with various friends almost every night of the week.  We’ve had a braai, movie nights, dinner out, and sundowners at the Lesotho Sun.  Friday was Eid, which meant more socialising.  We had lunch at our neighbour’s, Dr Rahman, who is a Bangladeshi radiologist.  In the evening we were invited to another Bangladeshi colleague’s place.  On finishing there we were spotted by yet another Bangladeshi colleague, who invited us in to his as well.  All our hosts were very hospitable and we enjoyed ourselves a great deal... perhaps a little too much.  It was so hard to resist all the great food including the “mishti” (Bangladeshi sweets)!

After all the eating, we decided to have an active weekend away!  We went to the Ts’ehlanyane National Park which is about 2 hours north of Maseru.  We took a detour to the Maluti Adventists Hospital where three medical students from Cardiff (Neil, Hannah and Louise) are spending some of their elective.  We picked them up for a weekend of hiking, braaiing and general frivolity!

The park was new to me, but Kit had been there in the rain earlier in the year.  This was the trip that was marred by Jeepy’s battery failing whilst I was at home with man flu!  No problems with our health or Jeepy this time.  Needless to say there was also no rain.  We have had one slight spatter in the week, but no meaningful rain since April or May.  I digress... the drive to the park was pretty as we drove next to a very dry Ts’ehlanyane river.  The landscape is all different shades of red and brown but there were hints of green, and plenty of pink peach blossom.  On arriving we headed to the Maliba Lodge for a drink.  This is an amazing lodge nestled in the mountainside, and is the only 5 star lodge in Lesotho.  After drinks we went on a short (2 hour) hike for lunch at a rock pool.  We returned to the park gate to find our accommodation was ready (there had been a hiccup with the booking).  We were in rooms sharing bathrooms and kitchen with a large group of Basotho teenagers who were on an education weekend.  I was a little concerned as there was no sound proofing to the rooms!  Once we settled in when went up onto the hillside for sunset and a braai.  

There was another large group of Basotho there who had been partying since lunchtime.  It was quite a sight and sound for that matter!  Although they were very entertaining, it was fortunately not that long before they left the five of us with our fire and the starlit sky.  We returned to our rooms after the braai to find very excitable teenagers running around... this didn’t bode well.  Unfortunately my night’s sleep was limited to 2.30 until 6 am due to the racket. 

Despite the lack of sleep we managed to set off early after breakfast for another hike.  This time we split up.  Neil and I left the girls on the trail whilst we headed to the top of a “nearby” peak.  It was a most exhausting yet exhilarating experience!  We scrambled up the mountainside to a ridge at over 2500 metres.  The walk up was physically tiring, but the walk down was mentally so.  We had to find our way through high grass with uneasy footing and then thicket causing cuts to our arms and legs.  Eventually we made it back down to find the girls sipping hot chocolates at the five star lodge!  It had been 4 hours since we’d left them.  They had apparently also had a taxing walk, but I have yet to see the cuts on Kit’s legs!!!

We are now preparing ourselves for another week at work.  Kit and Jeepy are heading to Bloemfontein early tomorrow as she needs new breaks... Jeepy that is!  We thought it would be wise to replace them before our visitors come.  We’re expecting our first guests of the spring (Greg, Elonah and Bob) in two weeks time.

That’s all from the Mountain Kingdom for now... more news when we have some.