Urban hiking

Hello all, hope this post finds you all well. I am doing fine, although we still haven't really had the end of winter rains down here in the lowlands of Lesotho (lowlands being relative as Maseru is still at 5000 feet, but the mountains are much higher). We have been having lots of nice sunny days, but it would be nice to get rain, both for the farmers who need rain to plow and plant and for me as right now the place where I live has a terrible fly infestation that will start to go away with the rains. The photos I have attached are from a hike I did on Saturday. I have been going to the Maseru Hash House Harriers, which is a group that meets every weekend to have a run/hike in a different place. Different people each week set the trail with chalk and you have to try to follow it and they try to confuse you with multiple trails in some places. All in all, a good time and a good way to meet people. Saturday, however, I went out with two friends, John a Brit and Matt a Scotsman (pictures to the left) to a mountain here in the middle of Maseru. We had a good time setting the trail and there were some spectacular views. On one side we looked down on the large textile mills here (the huge buildings with the big blue roofs), on top, it was like a nature preserve. Unfortunately, the top is also used for Basotho initiation/circumcision schools that are a part of the coming of age process. Not all boys go to these schools, but the entire process is very secretive and they are not open to outsiders or even uninitiated Basotho. We tried to ask some people on the way up if there was a school currently underway and got a variety of answers. So we set out and marked the trail, noting at one point what sounded like singing, but didn't encounter any people. So today when the full group met for the hike, we figured we would be okay, but unfortunately, two guys on motor bikes chose this day to drive up the hill as well and this alerted the guys at the school that there might be others around so we were met at the top and firmly told that we had to turn around and cut the hike short. Still, we were able to do almost all of it and it was a fabulous day with great views.