Somewhere over the Rainbow: Snow In Africa

EDIT: I forgot to publish this post last week- it was saved under drafts

Yes it's true...snow does fall in Africa!

We had quite a surprise Saturday afternoon while we were headed to visit the village of Semonkong. I had envisioned a weekend of sunshine, hiking, and horse trekking, not fires, mittens, and snowflakes!
Semonkong is located high in the mountains of Lesotho. It is famous for the Maletsunyane waterfall, which is one of the highest single dropping waterfalls in all of Africa. It is actually the highest waterfall in all of Southern Africa. The waterfall creates a haze of smoke from dropping into into a spectacular gorge. The name Semonkong actually means "The Place of Smoke."

So, we had driven for about 2 1/2 hours before it started to snow. We could see snow capped mountains in the distance, but figured that only the caps had snow. When we stopped for a pee break the snow started to fall.
All of a sudden the mountains dissapeared in a fog of white. It was a bit nerve racking since we were driving on the edge of windy mountain roads.

A car that belonged to the superintendent of the police flagged us down. He warned us about the snow, and advised us that it may be wise to turn back if we did not want to get stuck in Semonkong.
Well we were so close that we decided to keep on truckin'. This really was my Dad's idea! My Mom was a bit skeptical and nervous about getting stuck, and I wanted to keep going, but was a bit nervous as well.

An umbrella for a spring (snow) shower

I am really glad we stayed, because it was amazing to see snow in Africa. It really is surrealistic, and most people from our side of the world cannot connect Africa and snow together.
But man was it COLD! The electricity at the lodge was not working, and we did not get power until 6pm-10pm. Luckily I have awesome firemaking skills, and it was my job to tend to the fire to keep us warm.
It was fun to walk around in the snow, throw some snowballs, and warm up by the fire.

Winter Wonderland!

Snowball fight

By Sunday afternoon all of the snow had melted. I guess spring showers in the mountains involve snow! We were able to go hike around the waterfall for a while. It really was spectacular. First of all it is situatated in a spectacular and enormous gorge. The sound of the water falling is so loud.

We hiked down the moutain and onto the flat top of one of the cliffs that jets out into the ravine for a better look. We discovered several little mini waterfalls and pools. Our driver John and I went right up to the edge, but my parents stayed back. There were not happy that we were inches away from a straight drop! John (who was actually born and raised in Semonkong) told us all about the legend of the giant crocodile that lives in the pool underneath the waterfall. Apparently everyone really believes that a crocodile does live there, but I doubt a giant crocodile could handle a Semonkong winter! ! !