Almost home...

Day 7 - Sunday

A well deserved rest day today after the hectic day before, mostly spent lounging at the poolside at the Lesotho Sun, the best hotel in Maseru. At the end of a lazy day strangely everyone seemed to be even more tired than at the start, go figure. Hopefully after a good sleep we'll be energised for the new week ahead.

Day 8 - Monday

Up and out early and a two hour drive today to the north western province of Butha Buthe. Upon arriving we were greeted with a pitch with about 8 inches of standing water in places and a lovely traditionally thatched stand which even had carpet on the floor! Apparently there are quite a few of these around the country as the king likes to visit a new village each year for his birthday and they build a stand and have events such as horse parades on the field outside. After some initial delay, several schools arrived and we began delivering our usual games. We hadn't as much time as usual and so had to condense the games, but the message seemed to get through even if the kids needed a little more encouragement than usual. They were a bit older and seemed more self-conscious. They were also immaculately turned out and all their uniforms were pristine and I doubt that was just for our benefit.

After lunch we then played another game against the local Kick4Life trainers. After a week of intense activity we were starting to get a bit tired but in the end we ran out convincing winners, 5 - 1 and I scored two goals and had a dodgy claim on a third! Due to the water the match at times was a bit crazy and one of our goals was a pantomime effort where our striker and the keeper floundered around in a giant pool of water lashing at the floating ball until eventually our striker won the day. I really hope we got it on video. During the match there was also a hailstorm with giant hail which really stung. Afterward we all stank of boggy water and the trip home was long and smelly, ameliorated though by a fantastic sunset and low giant crescent moon.


Day 9 - Tuesday

A big day today as it's the last day of our official tour duties. We traveled to Malealea which is a 1.5 hours drive up into the mountains. Here we got to over 2000 meters and enjoyed spectacular panoramic views of mountains and valleys. By and large the roads in Lesotho are outstanding but once you get towards Malealea they descent into red dirt tracks and with a storm coming overhead, the last few miles were windy and bumpy. After dumping our baggage, we proceeded down the road to the local primary school where we had visited on the previous tour, memorable for being the worst pitch I have ever played on with the best scenery and it was comforting to see that nothing had changed. Local secondary school kids came along as well and we delivered our last sessions. Those with the secondary school kids were doing the normal HIV games while those with the primary children were just playing and having a laugh. Afterwards we were treated to am amazing display as the primary and secondary school kids had an impromptu choir sing-off. We then presented them with some Kick4Life shirts and I also donated another of the Godmanchester Rovers kits.

After a quick lunch we were back on the school and on the pitch to play the local village team. This turned out to be the most epic match of the tour with them really running us ragged early on. They were soon 2-0 up but with two comedy goals which should never have gone in. Luckily I pulled one back before the break and we went in 2-1 down at half-time. In the second half we finally got to grips with the game and they began to tire. Soon we were pressing hard seeking an equaliser which eventually arrived. The game drew to a close with us in control. Extra time followed and in the first half we scored to go 3-2 up. We then scored again only for the long range shot to be disallowed because someone out left and completely not interfering with play was deemed offside. A dreadful decision, but still we only needed to hold out for 10 minutes for a famous victory. Alas though, it was not to be and we conceded badly from a free kick and then again a couple of minutes later to shockingly lose 4-3. We were disheartened but ultimately satisfied with our endeavours on this tour both on and off the field. After the match we donated a complete Liverpool kit to the village team which the club had generously donated to me to take out here. A nice end to a fantastic game and tour.


Day 10 - Wednesday

With our official duties now over we could now relax in Malealea and nurse our various cuts, bruises and injuries incurred along a very busy tour. Today we travelled to the Botsoela twin waterfall which is a spectacular trek down through green valleys, up hills and ultimately ending at a fabulous natural waterfall. I did this trek on a horse in the last tour and most opted for horses this time around but with a marathon looming in May I opted for the four hour trek by foot as some sort of training. It was a fabulous and thoroughly enjoyable walk in spectacular scenery and the payoff, plunging under the pulverising waterfall was one of the most refreshing things ever. Lesotho has an amazing rugged beauty and it would be a dream if they could overcome the major health problems which are here and emerge as a thriving tourist destination.

Day 11 - Thursday

Well, I almost made it. On the last tour I got ill early on and really struggled for most of the two weeks. This time around I have been physically fine and in fact have definitely got stronger as the weeks have gone on and my lungs have adapted to the higher altitude. However, for the last two days I have developed an earache which has kept me awake at night and this morning travelled back to Maseru to visit the hospital as it was obvious it was not going away. We went to the Maseru Private Clinic and I didn't know what to expect but I needen't have worried. It was a very clean relatively new facility with no queues and a very thorough doctor. She quickly diagnosed me with an infected eardrum (Autitis?) and prescribed me with antibiotics, painkillers and an anti-inflammatory. I walked out of the examination room around the corner of the corridor to the pharmacy and picked up my pills immediately and then paid a total of 170 Rand (about 12 pounds). All done in about 15 minutes. If I had been in the UK, I would probably have been waiting hours. I hope the pills start to clear this up real quick as I have a lot of airplane time ahead of me in the next two days!


Day 12 - Friday

It all started so well. Got up early for breakfast and then got on the bus for the long (4.5 hour) drive to Johannesburg. Once we got through the Lesotho / South African border we drove for about an hour before stopping for brunch at a beautiful cafe-cum-craft shop called Living Life. The surroundings were glorious, a rustic rural cottage with fabulous gardens and the food was superb and sourced mainly from their own garden. Happy and refreshed we got back on the bus to resume our journey to the airport. We were about 150km from Johannesburg when disaster struck. I was reading my book at the time when I heard various members of the team exclaim and looked up to see a pickup truck rolling in the fields on the other side of the road. We screeched to a halt and barrelled out of the bus to rush to the scene. Before we reached the truck we could see it was a bad one, there was debris everywhere (it looked to be carrying Carling Black Label labels) and the truck was on it's roof and badly mangled. The back rear tire had blown out and it had careered off the road gouging a thick groove with the bare wheel as it went. Just in front of the truck we found one man injured but conscious and able to move his extremeties. We surmised later that he was probably wearing his seat-belt and had crawled out. About 40 yards further on from the truck we found a woman probably in her mid-twenties and it was obvious from the start that she was in a really bad condition. She was unconscious and only had a very faint pulse. This pulse disappeared pretty quickly and despite the absolutely heroic efforts of two of our team administering CPU, they couldn't revive her. All we could do after a few minutes was put a towel over her head. It was a truly shocking and devastating scene. The police took about 15-20 minutes to arrive and the ambulance an additional 15-20 minutes. By then we were getting back on our bus and heading onward in silence. It was a bitter irony that we had all come on the tour to help save lives only to see one extinguished before our very eyes. I think we all then just wanted to get home to our families while being conscious that somewhere the family of that poor girl were about to get the worst of news.