Craven : South Africa 2019 TR #4

[zig]

Also loving it, and the braai wish I could share the steak.

 

[craven morehead]

Also loving it, and the braai wish I could share the steak.

Some of the braaied steak was worth the trip alone !!

 

[craven morehead]

So over a beer last night we decided to have a crack at going up the Sani Pass to Lesotho ( 4x4 only ). Now the Kingdom of Lesotho is somewhere that I never really thought about visiting, well ..... been there done that and had a few beers! We travelled from High Flats to Underberg and then out to the Sani Pass. Now the funny thing is when you leave SA Border Control you have about 8km of "No Mans Land" or Mkhomazi Wilderness area before reaching Sani Pass Gate Border Control and into Lesotho proper. Then after border post and passport stamp it was a casual drive around the road to Sani Pass Mountain Lodge for lunch & a couple of brews at the .......... drumroll .......... Highest Pub in Africa! The hard part now will be trying to convey the magnificence of the scenery and surrounds on the trip up and down the pass. Hopefully you get some idea I'll do my the best. I'll skip the travel from High Flats to Underberg and concentrate on the Sani Pass.

Let's go


Now we have hit the dirt and start the trip proper :










Approaching SA Border Control Post : Passports ready for stamping I mean that's why we do this cough right?




Through Border Control and into the Wilderness area




I may need to go nuts on photos for this side trip the ~ 8km of track we are now on with a few photo (approx 10 minutes) stops will take an hour!

TBC :

 

[craven morehead]

Lesotho - Sani Pass day out cont:





















And we kept climbing ........ the views were stunning. More to come.

 

[craven morehead]

Lesotho - Sani Pass cont:

And as we climbed it got colder and colder.



On some of the tight corners that bite back on themselves and in narrow parts of the track you had to give way and or pull over. The local rule is vehicles coming up the Pass have right of way.


That white stuff is actually frozen



Frozen waterfall. I got out to try and get a photo of me next to this and tripped and nearly slipped about a kilometre back down the bloody pass



Approaching Lesotho


The lads in here were pretty casual







My mate Sean and his trusty X-Trail that got us up in one piece.


Now to enter The Kingdom of Lesotho and partake in F&B offerings and enjoy the views.

 

[craven morehead]

Now it was time to pull around to the Mountain Lodge and park the car and relax for a while.



Been there ...... done that !!


Now most of you know I've poured a few beers in my time well I'm guessing it's the altitude because neither of us could control the head on these beers !!

The local brew was Maluti Lager. To me it tasted more like a Pilsener but anyway we chugged through a litre each before deciding we didn't fancy it that much





We then opted for Butternut Pumpkin soup with some homemade bread thinking we might have a curry after that. Well the soup was so filling it stopped us in our tracks and the bread was absolutely spot on. Our customs forms still to be completed. The guys at Border control told us to just fill them in at our leisure and return on the way out



Views from the deck



Some of the accommodation options :




Local housing

 

[craven morehead]

The trip back down :





















TBC:

 

[craven morehead]

Trip down cont:





















Pretty well back to SA Border Control now so I've covered most of it albeit mostly with Samsung Galaxy 8 Note. Was a great day out !!

 

[RB]

Another fantastic experience-pays to have friends in "high" places

 

[craven morehead]

Another fantastic experience-pays to have friends in "high" places

@RB absolutely mate

 

[amaroo]

Super excursion that one. Beautiful photos

 

[ric_melb]

Fascinating trip report and photos. You are showing us parts of South Africa (and Lesotho) that few experience.

 

[JohnM]

Great stuff!

Envious that you made it to the pub. I had to turn back at the SA border post as I didn’t have a suitable vehicle to tackle no man’s land and not enough time in any event.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Lesotho was a favoured destination (and Swaziland) for Uni students in the early 70s. Let’s just say the grass was better on the other side of the border.

 

[craven morehead]

Lesotho was a favoured destination (and Swaziland) for Uni students in the early 70s. Let’s just say the grass was better on the other side of the border.

Wouldn't expect any less from a 70's Durban girl studying "horticulture" at Uni

 

[craven morehead]

Great stuff!

Envious that you made it to the pub. I had to turn back at the SA border post as I didn’t have a suitable vehicle to tackle no man’s land and not enough time in any event.

Most definitley 4x4 only @JohnM !! Was well worth the effort but I also had the luxury of a day to spare and it's a full day out no doubt. We passed one of those big off road BMW motorcycles when we were coming down. He dropped his bike on one of the tight corners as it is bouncy enough in a small 4x4 let alone trying to balance a heavily loaded motorcycle (think big panniers and a spare tyre strapped on one side) on such a rough track.

 

[craven morehead]

Fascinating trip report and photos. You are showing us parts of South Africa (and Lesotho) that few experience.

Many thanks @ric_melb

 

[craven morehead]

Super excursion that one. Beautiful photos

Cheers mate

 

[drross]

Just back from 5 weeks in Africa and loving your report and photos. Our experience with BA out of cape town to Durban was horrible..glad Commair looked after you; they were terrible towards us. 38years since I was last in Lesotho...looks about the same!! We usually go for 16 on the upper deck and will be sad to see the demise of the glorious old 747s

 

[craven morehead]

Just back from 5 weeks in Africa and loving your report and photos. Our experience with BA out of cape town to Durban was horrible..glad Commair looked after you; they were terrible towards us. 38years since I was last in Lesotho...looks about the same!! We usually go for 16 on the upper deck and will be sad to see the demise of the glorious old 747s

@drross I think BA/Comair are very hit and miss. Yes I can't imagine Lesotho changing too much although the little bit of highway I saw up there was top notch. Heading back to CPT AP very shortly for return CPT-DUR let's see how that turns out.