Sunday 28th January
At the risk of conforming to the British stereotype I thought it was time to say something about the weather here. This morning David and I went for a walk around the local neighbourhood in the blistering heat (this is by comparison to Wales). The skies were clear and the sun was bright. About lunchtime the first clouds started to appear and now at 5 o’clock we are in the middle of a spectacular thunderstorm.
The daytime heat and the evening storm has been the pattern each day since I arrived and is fairly typical apparently. The problem is that these sharp downpours tend to run off the land and Lesotho is apparently experiencing a drought with potentially serious consequences for the harvest and the livelihood of the many subsistence farmers.
The problems are worse in Cape Town. Local news reports that due to the growing population and declining rainfall, they are expecting to run out of water in April. Amazing to think that this could be the reality in the second largest city in South Africa. Who knows what the consequences will be if it actually happens.
I must confess to being glad of the storms here. They break the heat and leave the nights pleasantly cool. I am aware however of just how lucky I am that my day to day existence is not dependent on the weather. If it did I think my life here would be much more precarious.