Village life in Lesotho, Africa - photo essay

In May I took a pony trek through rural parts of the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho, in southern Africa. It was one of the best things I've ever done.

One of the biggest privileges it provided was being able to sit quietly and watch remote villagers go about their day as if a lone tourist wasn't in their midst. Here's what it looked like:

In charge of the entire village of Sekoting's population of toddlers (about 12) while parents were harvesting wheat, was this heroic grandmother. Traditional 'rondavel' homes are round because locals believe evil spirits can hide in corners.

Village women of Sekoting harvesting wheat for the community grain stores -- it was the southern hemisphere's fall when I visited in May.

Grinning and laughing a lot seemed to be a theme amongst the men and women as they harvested Sekoting's wheat fields together.

The ladies in a tiny village called Ribaneng had an almost dance-like technique for separating chaff from corn maize for the community's shared grain stores.

Ribaneng's women have eagle eyes when it comes to sorting out bad corn kernels; the good ones are stored over winter in a community grain hut.

Adorable kids played all afternoon while their parents worked on terraced hillside fields down below the village's huts.

You can see my entire Lesotho photo album here.

(Posted as part of #FriFotos, a weekly Twitter chat founded by @EpsteinTravels.)

Kim Mance is Galavanting’s editor-in-chief and host of travel and adventure webseries Galavanting.tv. She’s based in Brooklyn, NY and has blogged for places like Marie Claire, Travel + Leisure, Huffington Post, and Babble. Kim is also host of the popular TBEX conferences in North America & Europe.

She’s @kimmance on Twitter.

Comments

[Rayj]

What I loved the most are the kids on the photograph. The innocence and youthfulness of these kids are the things that made this photograph a great reflection. I just love to see real people, real emotions on photographs.

[Johanna]

Loved your photographs Kim. You have really highlighted the mountain village life. They brought back happy memories for me. We lived in Lesotho for 8 years, in Butha Buthe and also in the mountains near Katse Dam when my hubby was working on the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. We once spent 3 weeks pony trekking as part of his job. In those days the villages were remote and inaccessible - we had to check in with the village chiefs, everyone was camera shy and if children ventured out of their rondavels to check out the visitors, they would often run fearfully for their mother's skirts when they saw my blond hair. Sadly all my photos are prints only. I'd love to go back.

[Dan]

Hey Kim,
Great site! Keep it up,

Let us know if you ever feel like doing some pro-bono writing work. We're always looking for new writers.
www.thisboundlessworld.com

Thanks!
D