Butha Buthe District

Butha-Buthe is a region in the northern part of Lesotho where King Moshoeshoe ruled over the Basotho people. The meaning of Butha-Buthe is "to lie down", this name was given when King Moshoeshoe urged refugees from the Difaqane wars to lay down their weapons and follow under his rule and he would give them protection. Butha-Buthe is approximately 120km away from Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. Butha-Buthe is also a starting point of the ever popular Roof of Africa Rally which is held annually in Lesotho. Butha-Buthe is the capital city of the region Butha-Buthe in Lesotho. It is named after the Butha-Buthe mountain.

The Basotho people used to have to travel to the town called Hlotse to pay taxes and when the town, Butha-Buthe was founded, they were able to pay their taxes in their own town and not have to travel. Butha-Buthe can be found high above the Calendon river Valley which overlooks the Maluti Mountain. South of Butha-Buthe,along the Subeng Stream you will find fossilized footprints in the rock on the river banks. One set of the fossilized footprints are believed to be those of a dinosaur. The village of Butha-Buthe has commercial and administrative buildings and a popular market that makes and sells local hand crafted items.

Attractions:
There are caves with bushman rock paintings which is a great tourist attraction. Sebuku, "the place of the hippopotamus", is about 16km away from Butha-Buthe and is where bushmen,cannibals and Basotho used to take shelter.

Activities:
The mountain streams near Butha-Buthe are popular fishing spots for avid trout fishermen. You can expect to find Yellowfish and Barbel in these streams. Horseriding is also available and although the area is constantly being upgraded, the exciting and still very popular means of transport is on the back of ponies or horse back.