April 2015

Sani Pass – April Fool??

Saying farewell to Bobby and Denise, we set-off in the morning for our ‘Operation Escape Easter’ in Lesotho.  The Sani Pass leading from KwaZulu-Natal into Lesotho is legendary amongst overlanders and 4×4 enthusiasts in southern Africa. It is said to be a steep, rough, hair-pinned track, leading to the highest pub in Africa on the Lesotho border-post at 2,387 metres above sea level. The scenery is said to be spectacular but the drive can apparently be a bit of a challenge.  We are tackling the drive on 1^st April… Fools??? 🙂

Well we can now report that the scenery was indeed spectacular, with stunning views all the way. But as to the ‘challenge’… Sani did not quite live up to its hype!

Perhaps if we had driven the Sani Pass earlier on in our Africa trip, before the much rougher climb in Tanzania to Mambo View (see Cuthbert’s Big Climb) and before the equally steep but much narrower and tighter climb in Malawi to Livingstonia (see Livingstonia) , Cuthbert would have found Sani Pass more of a challenge. Perhaps if the weather conditions had been less than ideal (we were fortunate with sunshine, clear skies and a dry track) it may have been more of a test. But as it was, Cuthbert sailed up the Sani Pass which, although a little rough and steep in places, posed no challenge at all.

The main ‘tame feature’ of the Sani Pass compared to other similar tracks that we have driven in Africa, is that it is almost everywhere plenty wide-enough for two vehicles to pass in opposite directions.  At no point did we feel that awful, stomach-churning sense of ‘one-slip-and-you’re-gone’ that you get when negotiating a narrow track around a cliff-edge with a sheer drop at the side, or that sense of panic that arises when a vehicle approaches from the opposite direction and you don’t want to be the one passing on the ‘drop-off’ side of the road 🙂  And whilst the hair-pin turns on Sani are a bit tight near the top, none of them is so sharp that it can’t be negotiated by Cuthbert in a single, continuous turn (so no horrible reversing required for any 2-point turns at the bends).

So although the anticipated challenge didn’t quite materialise, it was indeed a stunning and enjoyable drive.  Once up on the plateau, crossing the border and after the obligatory photo stop at the highest pub in Africa, we set off to explore Lesotho.

‘Operation Escape Easter’

In addition to our prime mission of seeing the beautiful kingdom, our secondary mission in Lesotho is to avoid the crowds that will inevitably pack into any popular tourist destination in South Africa over the Easter school holiday.

For the first night, we found a great spot parked in the front gardens of a ‘lodge’ with great views down the valley near Mokhotlong.  Well, the term ‘lodge’ is used here in the loosest sense of the word. Pretty rudimentary accommodation, but this does not concern us with Cuthbert’s 5-star facilities 🙂  For us, location is everything, so we were very happy here.  And there were no Easter school-holiday tourists in sight!  Result!  So far, ‘Operation Escape Easter’ is full-steam ahead!

Our route then took us north to what is allegedly the highest tarred road in Africa, Tlaeeng Pass at 3,256 metres. Here we turned west and headed cross-country on a rough track heading to Ha Lejone and Katse Dam. This we must say, was not only more challenging than the drive up Sani Pass, but the stretch along the river towards Ha Lejone, is probably one of the more spectacular of the drives we have done over our 11 months touring Africa so far. The route follows along the river, but sits on a cutting in the mountainside high above it!

On the way to Katse we did a short detour and considered stopping for the night on top of the pass near Bokong Reserve. The views from up there on a mountain top at just under 3,000 metres are stunning, but a big thunder storm looked to be brewing. Hmmm… maybe a spot in a slightly more sheltered position might be advisable.

We eventually rocked up at Katse Dam Campsite which, rather predictably, over-looks the Katse Dam. It was Easter Thursday and again, we had the place all to ourselves.  On Good Friday we did an interesting tour of inside the dam wall and some walks around the area, but on arriving back at the campsite our planned ‘Operation Escape Easter’ began to unravel.  Over the late afternoon and early evening ‘our’ small campsite filled up with camping families.  It seems that we had seriously underestimated the popularity of Lesotho for the South African family Easter holiday 🙁

Shacking-up with the Royals

Moving on from Katse we headed south to Thaba Tseka, then west via Roma to Ramabanta and arrived at the Lodge there by late afternoon. There were a few smart black police security vehicles hovering around the access road, but otherwise the place seemed quiet.  When we went to check-in, the owner hesitated and schhhh’d through clenched teeth… if we didn’t have a pre-arranged booking, we would have to be cleared by ‘Protocol’.   Eh?  Apparently the Lesotho Royal Family were staying at the lodge for the Easter holiday. Bugger!  How dare they get in the way of our ‘Operation Escape Easter’ 🙂 !  Nevertheless, the nice chap found a spot for Cuthbert in the lodge grounds, sufficiently far away from their royal highnesses to satisfy ‘Protocol’.  We didn’t spot anyone wandering around the grounds who looked vaguely ‘royal’, but unless King Letsie III was sporting his crown and his ‘King of Lesotho’ t-shirt, we wouldn’t have recognised him from Adam.

Semonkong (briefly) and Marvellous Malealea

Next morning we set off for the small town of Semonkong. This is supposed to be a good area for hiking to pretty waterfalls etc. Yes, we have already done lots of this on this trip, but you have to see the best of what a country has to offer, and this is apparently one of Lesotho’s jewels.

The beauty of the scenery driving across Lesotho seems endless and, as might reasonably be anticipated in the ‘Mountain Kingdom’, there are literally speaking, many ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ across the country. Cuthbert copes well with almost any ‘up’ that we throw at him, but he (or more accurately, his inconsiderate and poorly designed braking system) is not so keen on Lesotho’s long, steep descending mountain routes which cause the brakes to overheat. We use low-gears/engine braking to limit the problem, but we still have to stop occasionally to let the brakes cool down.

We eventually arrive at the target-destination campsite at Semonkong Lodge. As we approached, it looked small and quite busy, but with Cuthbert we don’t need any facilities, just a space to park-up in a corner somewhere, which clearly there was. Unfortunately the unhelpful and unfriendly owner there didn’t agree and, for the first time on our travels, Cuthbert was turned away!!!   We haven’t used this blog to air our views/experiences at many specific campsites, but in over 11 months travelling around Africa, Semonkong Lodge is the only one that we have found to be unwelcoming and unfriendly to overland travellers. If you are travelling through the area, far better to stay at the Ramabanta Lodge (where the previous night, even a campsite owner with royal protocol to contend with, helpfully managed to find space for us) and do a day-trip to Semonkong if you want to see the area. Or better still, as we did, go instead to another of Lesotho’s ‘jewel destinations’ not far away at Malealea.

The experience of arriving at the marvellous Malealea Lodge could not have been more different from the unfriendly Semonkong Lodge. At Malealea we received a warm welcome as we drove through the gate and enjoyed the ‘traveller friendly’ atmosphere for a few days.

Just another 29 years to go!

As we often say in the Blog, one of the many attractions of travelling in Africa is the interesting people that we meet, and Malealea was no exception. Amongst the many travellers here, we met an Aussie couple retired from farming in Aus and now working their way around Africa doing farm-sitting; and a Danish/American chap touring alone on a motorbike.

We also finally met Frans and Karen, who we had been in email contact with for a while. They are a friendly Dutch couple living in South Africa who found us via this Blog and contacted us with their story of building their own version of Cuthbert.  Planning the final fit-out of their own truck, they were keen to see an example of ‘the finished item’ and they came to visit us at Malealea to admire Cuthbert!

And last but not least, at Malealea we also met the amazing Emil and Liliana Schmid from Switzerland, in their Cuthbert-coloured Toyota Land Cruiser. Emil and Liliana are the Guiness World Record holders of over-landing travel and have been on the road now for over 30 years in the same vehicle!!!!!  No, not a typo… that’s thirty (three-zero) years. Since 1984 they have been driving around the world, done well over 700,000 km and visited 181 countries!!!!  With our 1 year on the road in Cuthbert, we have a looooooong way to go to catch up…

Here’s a video of some of our driving in Lesotho:

After a great time at Malealea going for walks and enjoying the company of other travellers, the Easter holiday period is over and we can report that (excluding the unfriendly Semongkong Lodge) our ‘Operation Escape Easter’ has been broadly a success!  We can now move back to South Africa -The Final Leg.

Here you can peruse our fabulous (and, courtesy of Mr Google – interactive) route map through Lesotho.