The dry season in Lesotho.
About 5 years ago, as I was traveling across southern Africa, I spent a day in Lesotho (pronounced Leh-SUE-too). Lesotho is a country that is entirely within the country of South Africa. It is the country with the highest low point in the world, and it is a country of the mountains. Due to its elevation, the summers rarely rise above 90 F (32 C) even in the lowlands, and the winters can drop to 19 F (-7 C) in the lowlands and drop much colder in the mountains.
That's me, sampling the local Lesotho beer out of a cut down plastic jug.
A Lesotho medicine woman / "witch doctor"
Very young children were responsible for herding the family cattle.
View from a Lesotho mountain top.
After a leisurely climb up a well worn path to the top of a mountain, we were awarded with this view overlooking the valley below. I was struck with how desolate and isolated this place felt. It seemed a very unforgiving land. Obviously, there are much harsher places on earth (deserts come readily to mind), but the climate here is exactly what I would call a temperate climate... the climate this blog is all about, yet the land seemed so empty.
Over the last few years, I have thought about Lesotho on occasion and wondered what types of Permaculture Projects could be accomplished in this location. I was very pleasantly surprised to come across the following video of a Peace Corp volunteer, Greg Felson, speaking about Permaculture in Lesotho.
Here is the video:
Permaculture in Lesotho
