Pony Trekking in Lesotho

It was in April that I visited the mountain kingdom of Lesotho It is set entirely within east-central South Africa and serves up stone villages atop remote hillsides.

The local people, called Basotho, live draped in blankets and robes, almost like the ancient Greeks. Shepherd boys sit on slopes, playing flutes. Vultures and eagles soar overhead.

There are few roads in Lesotho, and those are mostly terrible. It took us 4 hours to travel about 40 kilometers! So in Lesotho the horse remains chariot of choice and this is how you'll want to get around as well. Malealea Lodge - a remote trading post - offers horseback treks of varying durations. You can base yourself at the Lodge and stay in their very simple, but clean huts or travel for several days, staying in timeless Basotho villages.

You'll ride some of the subcontinent's steepest terrain, but the Basotho ponies are tough, sure-footed and afraid of nothing. I had taken only a few riding lessons before coming to Lesotho, but felt very safe on the pony's back, even as we went along a narrow ledge, high up the side of a mountain!

The views are spectacular - I felt like I was riding on top of the world, and was very sad to leave this beautiful, rugged mountain kingdom.

For more information e-mail Chris Boecker