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Lesotho Loti
Lesotho is a country that is situated towards the southern end of Africa and it uses the loti as its currency. Each loti is divided into 100 sente (cent) with the plural of sente being lisente. The plural of the loti is maloti, which means that the currency is often denoted as L meaning 1 loti, or M meaning more than 1 loti!
The currency is issued by the Central bank of Lesotho and it is pegged on a par with the South African rand. It comes in coin form, as 1 sente, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 lisente and 1 loti, 2 maloti and 5 maloti. As notes it comes in the form of 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 maloti.
The different words used to describe the currency can be confusing initially, but it is worth just spending time getting to grips with the different terms before you go, so that you don't get confused when in the country.
History of the Loti
The loti is a relatively new currency, having only been introduced in 1966 initially, when it was a currency that was not actually in circulation, but was officially brought into being in 1980, when it became official currency and replaced the South African rand, which had been the currency in use since that time.
Lesotho was granted independence from the United Kingdom in 1966 and the loti that was brought out at that point was a symbolic issue only, it was not used as currency.
Getting Hold of Loti/Maloti
The process of getting hold of loti or to use the correct term maloti, is not wholly straightforward in Lesotho, since there are relatively few ATM machines that will be able to successfully dish out maloti. Although they may accept your card, they are often not reliable enough to actually execute a successful transaction and as such you should not rely on ATM machines alone.
The best way of ensuring that you have enough cash when in Lesotho, is to take with you some South African rands (because the loti is pegged at par to the South African rand, it means that they are of the same worth and are used widely, so you will have no difficulty changing these), a credit card, as well as some traveller's cheques.
You will be able to use traveller's cheques as payment in hotels or even larger shops, or exchange them at a bank. You should ensure that you keep a separate record of all the cheque numbers and always make sure that this is not only secure but it is not with your cheques, so that if they are lost or stolen, you can have them replaced.
Thus you will have a means whereby if you are subjected to a robbery, you should still be able to get hold of some cash and will not have lost everything.
Credit card use is quite widespread in Maseru the capital, but less so in other areas. Often credit cards will only be accepted if you are spending large amounts of money, so never assume that they will be accepted when you are out and about and try to have some cash on you for smaller items.
Safety Issues
Maseru is not the most dangerous country in the world, but it does carry a risk of crime. Maseru is a very poor country that has seen little positive progress in the last few years. There is a very high crime rate and in addition, the incidence of HIV and AIDS is extremely high. These two factors combined mean that people are often desperate and when they are desperate they are more willing to try to get money through robbery or stealing.
Most of the violent crime happens in Maseru, but it is important to at least stay vigilant when you are in other areas.
The main focus of crime is car jacking, kidnap attempts and mugging/armed robbery. Foreigners have been specifically targeted by thieves, but if you avoid travelling or walking around at night and ensure that during the day you keep all car windows locked, then you should be quite safe. One strange practice that is often practised in Maseru is to go straight through traffic lights on red, if you are driving at night. The reasoning behind this is that you won't be car jacked if you don't stop. However, it does require some skill when it comes to driving !
There are very few travellers in Lesotho, it is not yet a tourist destination. This can mean that travellers are quite conspicuous and so easily stand out from locals. This means that they need to exercise care, simply to avoid any potential robberies.
But many people travel to Lesotho each year without any problems at all, so staying aware and vigilant should keep you safe and compared to many other countries in the world, it is actually quite safe, since the risk of terrorism is quite low and it is not in any conflict, plus the political situation is relatively stable.
Using Maloti
It would be easy to think of Lesotho as being a country that is very inexpensive, due to the fact that it is a relatively poor country. However, this just isn't the case and it is more expensive than you may initially assume. In particular, transport costs can be quite high and if you don't want to risk hiring a car, then transport costs can seriously increase the cost of your trip.
However, that being said it is not too expensive, just less of a bargain, than people may assume. The fact that it is completely landlocked by South Africa, also means that many goods have to be imported and this can push up the costs of some things quite considerably.
Out and About
There is a lot to do in Lesotho and it is a country that is still very wild, with a rugged terrain and a real feeling of being in Africa and an untamed Africa at that.
However, this situation may be changing and perhaps even changing quite rapidly, since there is already a casino resort established and more and more tourist facilities seem to be springing up. In some ways this will obviously benefit the country, since it will provide jobs, through construction work and then staffing the new hotels etc, but fears are already being expressed that it will change the very beautiful nature of the country and in fact actually mean that the whole experience will be less powerful. Whether that happens has to be seen, but possibly the best time to experience Lesotho is sooner rather than later: it is not cheap now and undoubtedly when more tourists come, prices will once again be driven upwards!
One of the unique aspects of Lesotho is that it is a country that is actually the only country in the world to be situated over 1000 metres above sea level. So it is blessed with spectacular mountains and some stunning views. In addition, there are some great wildlife safaris to be undertaken, where you really can get to see the power of nature, un-harnessed by mankind. Then there are the Maletsunyane Falls, which are over 200 metres tall and seem to 'smoke' hence why the nearby town is called Semonkong, which translates as The Place of the Smoke.
Maseru, the capital is not really like a capital in a lot of ways, it just seems like a big town and unless you want to see the Mokorotlo, which is a 'virtual museum' or you want to have a look at some of the bigger shops, then it is usually better to head off away from Maseru and instead, get a real feel for the land and its people.
The Basotho people who live in Lesotho are incredibly warm and quite welcoming, despite the fact that many are poor and many are either living with HIV or AIDS or are coming to terms with the fact that they have lost many members of their family to HIV/AIDS.
Whilst whole nations cannot be grouped together, there is overall a very friendly feel to the country and although there are some problems with crime, the vast majority of people simply wish to meet travellers and get to know a little bit about how other people live, so they are often quite naturally curious about travellers and do not automatically regard them either as 'cash cows' or people to be avoided.
Lesotho even offers the opportunity to go skiing in Africa! If you go to Oxbow, which is to the north of Lesotho, then you can (if weather conditions permit, i.e. there is enough snow, take a trip on a piste, which in itself is not something you usually consider doing in Africa!
Overview
Lesotho is not a country that many people have heard of, let alone contemplated visiting, but nevertheless it is a country that has a lot to offer travellers and whilst it is still a country that is relatively unvisited, it can offer a side to Africa, that is often not seen, since it is raw and very natural.
It does have some limited tourist facilities and yet there are lots of places where you can simply see animals and countryside, not even another hut or building anywhere in sight. It is hard to describe just how dramatic the scenery is and how in very many ways, it is so different from the rest of Africa, due to its altitude.
Due to the fact that it is so close to South Africa, it is really quite easy to get there and if you don't want to come for a long period, then you could easily combine the two experiences and enjoy 2 very different sides of African life, from the more sophisticated urban sides of South Africa, through to Lesotho with its ability to ski!
The best time to visit Lesotho is before it loses its charm and becomes home to even more sanitised casino resorts,which could be anywhere in the world.
For more details of Lesotho and some interesting information about the culture and beliefs in Lesotho, visit http://www.visitlesotho.com
Comment
Wow this has to be one of the most obscure currencies in the world today. It’s weird how we all get so hung up on the main few currencies – the US dollar, the British pound, the Euro and so on – and yet there are loads of other currencies that most of us haven’t heard of.
Mind you, judging from this article it seems like we’re all missing out on many different areas of the world. Maybe we should all focus on visiting some other lesser known areas like this for our holidays, instead of going to all the popular countries and resorts all the time?
— C Dixon · May 26, 04:50 PM · #
I have heard of Lesotho before but I’m not sure in what context because none of the information above was remotely familiar to me. It obviously isn’t built to take tourists to any great degree, which is probably why I’ve not heard of it in any depth before.
It seems like an interesting place in some respects but I don’t think it is one I will ever visit in person. It’s like a lot of countries – it has interesting parts to it but there is no way I would go there to see them. There is too much that doesn’t appeal as well.
— Kate · Dec 18, 05:12 PM · #