Diamonds are produced at 4 mines, last year worth US$300 million.  The official currency is the loti , used interchangeably with the South African rand.  

 

Lesotho has one of the highest literacy rates in Africa.  Although education is not compulsory, the Government of Lesotho is gradually introducing a program for free primary education.  But Lesotho's residents still struggle for access to vital services, such as healthcare, transport and educational resources.

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The traditional style of housing in Lesotho is called a mokhoro.  Many older houses outside Maseru are of this type, with walls usually constructed from large stones cemented together.  We see a few with baked mud bricks and  thatched roofs and quite a lot with corrugated roofing sheets.

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Traditional dress is the Basotho blanket, a thick covering made primarily of wool.  We notice that men and women wear their blankets  differently.

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As we head back to Maseru with the truck radio playing,  Frida tells us about traditional musical instruments including the lekolulo, a kind of flute used by herding boys, the setolo-tolo, played by men using their mouth, and the woman's stringed thomo

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The national anthem of Lesotho is "Lesotho Fatše La Bo-ntata Rona", which literally translates into "Lesotho, Land of Our Fore-Fathers".