The mountain kingdom's crossroads — Basotho blankets, pony trekking and highland passes
Maseru is the capital of Lesotho, the world's highest-altitude country (every part of it is above 1,000 metres), entirely surrounded by South Africa — one of only three countries on earth that is completely enclosed within another. The city is the commercial gateway to a highland kingdom of extraordinary mountain scenery: Sani Pass, the Maluti Mountains, and the Drakensberg Range are among the highest and most dramatic in southern Africa. The Basotho culture is distinct from its South African neighbours — the traditional blanket (mokorotlo), pony trekking between remote mountain villages, and…
Lesotho was founded as a kingdom by Moshoeshoe I in 1822, who united the various Sotho clans on the natural mountain fortress of Thaba Bosiu to resist raids from Zulu armies and Boer settlers. Moshoeshoe's diplomacy was so effective that he persuaded the British to protect Lesotho (then Basutoland) rather than be absorbed into what became South Africa — making it one of the few African territories to survive the colonial era as a distinct political entity. Independence came in 1966 as the Kingdom of Lesotho, and the country has since maintained its identity as a high-altitude enclave, with a…