Guys, let's be honest. When you think of Africa, you usually think it's either hot or humid or both,
But suddenly, you step into this country and you're shivering in snow as you wrap yourself in a thick mohair blanket.
Welcome to Africa's refrigerator.
Hey everybody, I'm your host, Barb's.
So usually I try to write something clever and these openers however I have a special announcement,
This is our 96th episode, which means, we are officially halfway done with all of the countries of the UN!!
ALL: YEAAAH
*All rejoicing*
RAAAAHHH!
*Noah punches Barby*
Ken: Wait, wait, wait!
Barby: What?
Ken: There's only a 193 countries in the UN.
Barby: Yeah so?
Ken: So the half would be
96.5. (Quick Maths!)
Barby: So then the halfway point of this episode will be the halfway point of doing all the countries of the UN!!
*Yeahh!*
*WOOOOOO!!*
*YEEAHH!*
Barby: Oh by the way, this country is pronounced Le-soo-to.
Le-soo-tu or Le-zoo-tu, I've heard it pronounced both ways. Anyway, let's find out where it's located, shall we?
The country is located in the South African region completely landlocked by the country of South Africa
which just like San Marino and Vatican City,
makes Lesotho one of the only three countries in the world to be completely landlocked
inside another single nation-state. The country is divided into ten districts with the capital,
Maseru located in the West side by the border with South Africa.
After the capital the next largest cities are Mafeteng and Hlotse and the only international airport being
Moshoeshoe I International airport in Maseru which only flies to South Africa and regionally to the other
smaller 27 airports, only five of which have paved runways. Then you know, there's that Matakane airstrip,
which goes off a cliff labelled as one of the world's scariest runways...
Nepal: Ha! Challenge accepted! >:D
Most people however coming through road travel through South Africa. The easiest route being
directly across the border in the South African 8th, highway into Maseru
From there you can take a ring road north or south on the A1 or A2 highways. However
due to South Africa's Maloti Drakensberg park, there aren't any major roads that
pass through the East side of the country except this little road that not too many people know about. The Sani Pass,
an unpaved road that cuts right through and has an amazing view.
Hehe I almost missed that little road but i found it on Google Earth.
I could, have skipped it and made Ken's animation a little easier but...
You know, the kid needs to suffer a little bit.
Ken: You know, I'm literally sitting behind this camera recording you :/
Oh, yeah I made you my cameraman. Whatever happened to Brandon?
Brandon: I'm still here. You just...stopped...calling me
Awkward...
So anyway, Lesotho is the only independent state in the world that lies entirely above a thousand meters in elevation.
This means that life here is a little different from the lives of their cousins that live down below.
Despite South Africa's popularity surrounding it on all sides,
Lesotho doesn't really get a lot of tourists. Nonetheless that doesn't mean that they're short in places to check out.
Some notable places of interest might include places like Malestunyane falls, Sehlabathebe national park, Bokong Nature Peserve,
The Kome Caves with cave paintings from the ancient San people,
The Sani Mountain Lodge, the highest pub in Africa, the Masitise cave house, Thaba Bosiu Culture Village, The Morija Museum,
The Basotho hat shop building in Maseru, Qachas Neks nik park
Yeah, you heard me,*Qacha,
We'll get into that clicking thing later, Leribe dinosaur footprints, king Moshoeshoe the second royal graves, the Qoqolosing Mountain
And Afriski, one of the only two ski resorts in Sub-Saharan Africa. Yeah you heard me? Skiing. This place gets snow.
Yeah, the land here is very unique, which makes the perfect transition into...
Now as mentioned, Lesotho is pretty high up in altitude. In fact over 80% of the country is above
1,800 meters and the lowest point is only at 1,400 meters. So yeah, these people are like mountain folk,
Okay so we're gonna do a Physical Geography animation,
and I'm gonna cover a lot of info so KEN, I SWEAR THAT YOU BETTER MAKE THIS ANIMATION GOOD!!
The country is divided into two main parts - The Lowlands along the banks of the Caledon or "Mohokare" River,
bordering South Africa in the northwest and the four mountain ranges smashed in the centre and east parts of the country.
The Thaba Putsoa, the Maloti, the Central and the Drakensberg, where we can find the tallest peak
Thabana Ntlenyana. Thanks to the elevation, winters can go below freezing anywhere around -7 to -18°C
Snow is common during may to september in the winter months (Remember guys, we are in the Southern Hemisphere) and some peaks have snow
year-round which is why they have a ski resort. The longest river though is the Orange River
that transects the country into South Africa and eventually empties into the Atlantic ocean whereas the largest lake
Is the Katse dam reservoir artificially created on the Malibiamatso river.
(Phew) Good animation Ken, how do you feel about making it?
Yeah, that animation took like 14 hours to render and finish up but, you know.
Great, good job except you misspelled Thabana Ntlenyana so... you're FIRED!
Back in 2010, Lesotho was ranked the country with the least carbon emissions and overall smallest volume at only about 18 thousand metric tons.
Nonetheless, soil erosion is a problem all over the country. In fact you can kind of see the clear-cut borders of Lesotho from space.
Most of the population are subsistence farmers even though only about 11% of the country is arable.
Speaking of which: food and resources. The national dish is Motoho, a sour porridge made of sorghum,
usually accompanied with salty collard greens and beetroot and carrot salads. Maybe
Chakalaka stew on the side with some oxtail stew as well. Lesotho was known for diamond mines three main ones,
Kao, Liqobong and the largest one, Letseng
where the fifth largest diamond in the world at 910 carats the size of two golf balls
worth forty million dollars was found. Otherwise
another thing Lesotho is famous for their textiles and warm Basotho blankets made of mohair, which is a specific type of goat fur.
You'll see people wearing these all over. What else are we missing from this segment...?
Oh, yeah the national animal is the black rhino but the Basotho horse is very popular especially used amongst Thailand cowboys.
Let's see... Oh yeah,
they also discovered the Lesothosaurus a dinosaur named after the country.
And, I think that's about it.
Yeah, cool. All right, let's move on and meet the people here, shall we?
Just for reference: a person from here is called a *Mosotho* but keep in mind that singular.
If you're talking about plural, it's called Basotho.
*Mosotho*;
Basotho,
Got it? Yeah that explains why the country used to be called Basotholand
by the British. First of all, the country has about 2.5. Million people and has the highest literac-
Wait, how come the Infograph isn't showing up?
Dude, don't you remember?
*Flashback* Great, good job except you misspelled Thabana Ntlenyana so... you're FIRED!
You're FIRED! You're FIRED!
YOU'RE FFFIIIIRRREEEDDDD!!!!!
Fine, I'll do the animation myself! The country has about 2.5 Million people
and has one of the highest literacy rates in Africa nearly 90%. Lesotho is almost completely homogeneous with
with over 99% of the people identifying as Basotho,
while the rest is made up of other African peoples and a few aid workers from the west.
That was a good animation, right?
I think?
Get the mop quick!!
Okay, Noah, I'm going to need you to fill in for me.
Uhhh...
Just read the teleprompter. I'll be back, I need Ken!
Hey! Hey!
The currency of the country is a Loti or a Maloti.
They use the type M outlet and they drive on the left side of the road.
Now one thing you need to understand is that Lesotho is a unitary parliamentary monarchy
currently under the headship of King Letsie III. This is what kind of sets Lesotho apart from South Africa.
But they never really incorporated themselves with them, legislatively that is.
You can't be part of a republic when you got a king.
Haha!!
Speaking of which, history time. Bantu migration and settlements, King Moshoeshoe settles and negotiates with Shaka Zulu
by paying him tribute, The crushing wars hits, drought, famine, Trek wars started getting close,
King doesn't like it and invites missionaries hoping that they will bring him guns, They didn't but he liked them anyway and let them stay,
King Moshoeshoe strikes up a deal with the British in Lesotho, It becomes a British protectorate,
Lesotho becomes independent in 1966, Three coups, and here we are today. One source of controversy though
is that unfortunately about 23% of the population suffers from HIV and aids.
Third in the world after Botswana and Swaziland. This creates a
whole other level of development issues especially since over a third of the population is under 15 years old.
In addition today there are only about 5 positions for every 100,000 people.
Otherwise culturally, the Basotho are quite unique. Due to the climate, they usually dress warmer. You'll find
mohair blankets everywhere. The national hat the Mokorotlo is seen everywhere
and even their traditional house has incorporated stone and cement for better insulation rather than the clay
and mud huts of the temperate savannas down below. Horses played a much larger role especially after they are introduced in the 17th century.
They even have their, own unique calendar system. About 90% of the population is Christian, mostly Catholic and Protestant.
Okay, seriously where's Barb's at? I mean he's never left hosting a segment this long,
I mean, do you know where's he at?
Alright, well I think I have heard everything I need to hear.
We would love you to have to be part of the Bixar team, Ken.
All we need from you now is to sign this contract just stating that you're gonna have a six-figure salary, full benefits
You're going to have a basic life form going forward.
You're going...
OH NO YOU, NOT TODAY!
Okay, guys, okay, okay, I got him, I got him
I got him. I'll take it from here. Thanks Noah.
No problem. Okay.
In addition to English, the other native language spoken here is called Sesotho or Sotho,
Little different from their Northern and Southern Sotho languages in South Africa. Basically, there are
39 consonants and 9 vowels. The "Q" makes a click sound, *qlock*. makes a
The "HL" makes a "hhlll" sound and for some reason, L sometimes sounds like a D.
It's a little confusing.
Music incorporates a variety of drums and instruments but, some of the popular ones include the
Lekolulo flute and the strings Thomo. Now this is usually the part where I mentioned famous people but honestly, most of the sources I got were
just members of the royal family and past kings. There's other people
Like Desmond Dube but he's kind of like South African-y. Author Thomas Mofolo and singer Masotho Chakela, I guess?
And a bunch of athletes. (Mosito Lehata, Henry Mohoanyane, Namakoe Nkhasi, Moses Mosuhli, Tsepang Sello, Mamokete Lechela, Mamorallo Tjoka, Selloane Tsoaeli, Lerato Sechele)
But yeah. If you know, any really notably famous, people from Lesotho, let me know
and write them in the comments. All right, let's take it home and finish off this bad boy, shall we?
Lesotho maybe a kingdom that has made it very clear that
they wanted to be their own country apart from South Africa.
They still have an open heart to those outside of the snowy slopes.
Okay Ken, this is the last animation of the episode, I need you to do this good, I need you, okay?
DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN!
Okay, okay, sorry i'm just... Okay, fine
Okay, okay? Good.
All right, now do this good or you're fired. For one as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and former British Territories,
they have ties to all the other countries that were formerly under the UK and especially Ireland. These former prime ministers and presidents
visited and pledged a continuous bilateral, aid agreement, making them the largest donor since the 70s
and to this day, Lesotho is Ireland's longest-running, aid program nation. The UK and the USA both have
both have close ties as well. The UK is a major supplier of defense equipment as well as
investing in infrastructure development, whereas the USA has been assisting in the peace corps since 1969
providing humanitarian aid in education. As a member of the South African Development Community
and South African Customs Union, they have close ties to pretty much every nation around them
in South and East Africa all the way up to Tanzania and the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo).
With the customs union, they share fiscal partnerships, free trade deals
and the same external tariff laws with Namibia and Botswana, Swaziland and South Africa.
Business between these are the strongest and excess revenue is shared amongst them as well.
When it comes to the best friends though, most of the Basotho would probably say, South Africa. Even though they
they made it very clear that they wanted to be a distinct nation apart from South Africa.
They still hold close ties and love their neighbors. Many of them have family in South Africa, the currency system is
pegged to the South African Rand, many people even hold dual citizenship, these two nations may be distinct
but nonetheless supportive. Good job, Ken. Follow him on Instagram.
;D
In conclusion, Lesotho Is like an icy African kingdom written with cowboys,
beautiful mountains and literally a cool atmosphere.
Stay tuned, Liberia is coming up next.
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAHHHH!
WOOOOO!!!
YEAH! HALFWAY DONE!
Look at that
Halfway Done!!
Yay, Geography Now!.
This thing is crazy.
BUUUAARRGGGHH!!