A life we can only dream of

I recently had the rare privilege to undertake an adventure in and around the breath-taking rural Lesotho. Of particular interest to the group of South Africans travelling through the landlocked mountainous kingdom was the quality of life of those living in the remotest of hilltops. It’s the kind of life we as smog-inhal-ing and stressed-out residents of South Africa’s largest metropolitan can only dream of.

There can’t be too many worries when you stay in a rock-walled, thatch-roofed hut with your closest neighbour about seven stone- throws away from you.

You wake up in the morning, draw your lungs full of gloriously clean mountain air and admire the magnificent view of the valley below from the comfort of your strategically positioned long drop.

As a subsistence farmer in a country with an enormous annual rainfall, most of your basic needs are sorted. Your perfectly drinkable water is sponsored by the heavens above and stored in a tank, your little patch of mielies grows along their merry way and your goats that feed of Mother Earth provide milk and meat.

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Being much better prepared than the most of Joburg during load shedding, not having any electricity is also not a problem. There is plenty of wood to collect from the land to use for cooking and heating in winter.

Not only are these mountain folk’s souls in good shape, but their physical health too. Making your way around steep inclines and over vast distances to visit neighbouring villages for selling some hide and periodic purchases of necessities such as paraffin and soap will keep anyone in tip-top shape.

The gross lack of sugar from their diets also contribute to their teeth – most notable on the ever-smiling little children – being in exception- al condition. As good oral hygiene is generally considered as the gateway to good overall health, the demand for medical facilities is therefore very low. In the event of you requiring medical expertise greater more advanced than your local healer can provide, there is always a Basuto pony on hand to take you the extra mile to find a clinic.

Should you require something more fermented than your drinking water to celebrate your birthday, you’re sorted. Much to the entertainment of the South African tourists, beer finds its way up the steepest slopes to the most remote huts. Cases are simply draped over the back of a pony and sent further up the hills where vehicles can no longer travel. One of

the most remarkable take-outs from experiencing this way of life was what a minimal impact Covid had on these people. Their way of life continued unobscured ever since the world turned upside down in 2020.

You don’t need masks and sanitiser when your daily life consists of harvesting a few crops, milking a goat and cooking a meal. They didn’t have jobs to lose or cash flow that was affected. With the aftermath of the world’s reaction to Covid set to carry on for the unforeseeable future, it’s hard to imagine anyone that was unaffected by the whole ordeal.

Quite ironically, the effect of the happenings almost 10 000km away in Ukraine will have a much bigger effect on someone on a remote Amathola mountaintop. Those beers and soap where at some stage transported by a vehicle. Vehicles use fuel. Fuel went up. Because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A bottle of nectar on the pony express might go up to 15 from 10 maloti. All because of some conflict on the other side of the world. Eventually, even fresh air comes at a price.