The Mountain Kingdom Of Lesotho

I realize that the title of this post sounds like a quest in Lord of the Rings but that's what they call their country!

We left the backpackers hostel at Witsiehoek Lodge after another breakfast enjoyed in the dining room with the fantastic view. We may have pilfered the  packets of peanut butter and jams for our upcoming breakfasts but if questioned we'll deny it. If Michelle turns to a life of crime this may well have been where it all started.

We were off to our campsite at the Highmoor Nature Reserve in another area of the Drakensburg. The Drakensburg is a huge mountain range that runs roughly north-south in the centre of South Africa. It slightly defines the border of enclaved country of Lesotho and Lesotho lies within the mountains. We would camp at Highmoor and then take the infamous Sani-Pass into Lesotho. Our plan was to camp at the Katse Dam in Lesotho and then exit the country at a Northern border back into South Africa. Oh how our plans would change! Little did we know that we'd be sipping lattes in a ski lodge in Africa in a couple days. But first the Nature Reserve at Highmoor.

Now you may be wondering why we've included so few pictures of our camp setups in Africa. The main reason is that we would roll in at or near dark and get packed up in the mornings and be on the road before it really got light out. One of the things that we had to get used to is that SA lies quite near the equator (well, nearer than Canada's West Coast, that we're used to) so the days are quite short year 'round only varying about an hour or so between winter and summer. So the sun would come up about 6:30 am and set about 6:30 pm. Our evenings were quite short and with the cold nights we'd often be in our sleeping bags by 8:30 or 9:00 "strung out from the road" in the immortal words of Bob Seger.

But Highmoor was a short drive from Witsiehoek so we had several hours to set up and enjoy the sunshine. Michelle even got a workout in while Rick admired the scenery. (Rick's arguments that vacations have no room for workouts fell on Michelle's deaf ears.)

But first, We stopped at a grocery store to stock up for the next couple days.

Historically South Africa was a stop off point for ships carrying spices from the East. Lots of influences in the local food. Or not, Rick would make up stuff and tell it to Michelle. His way of getting back at her for saying she saw a rhino.

Our camp set-up at Highmoor. Pretty nifty digs eh?

Cooking over our campfire. Once we mastered South African fire we were unstoppable.

We never got tired of sunrises.

No to-go cups at SA coffee shops. You sit and enjoy it like God intended.

Sani-Pass marks the border between South Africa and Lesotho. We had to get an exit visa from South Africa at the bottom  and cross the Lesotho border up at the top. Both were just bureaucratic rubber-stamps and filled with paperwork but necessary nonetheless.

We stopped to air down the tires as the going got rougher. 

The road just kept going up and up. Many, many switchbacks and loose gravel turns. The views just wouldn't stop.

The view from the top. The pass can sometimes be closed due to snow or fog but we had excellent weather.

And at the top of the pass? A pub! I will never not be amazed by man's ingenuity to serve alcohol to each other. If we ever colonize another planet I'm sure the first thing to go up will be a bar. 

We enjoyed rib-eye steaks on the patio overlooking the pass.

Highest Pub in Africa cat! The stuff he pushes off tables falls a loooooong way.

  

After lunch at the pub we continued on our way through Lesotho. Being so mountainous there are only a couple major roads through the country. The road we were on was obviously new and in excellent shape. We suspected that there had been some foreign investment in Lesotho to improve the infrastructure. This was confirmed when we passed two diamond mines further into the country. 

Mountainous, dry and cold. Lesotho is like playing life on hard mode.

Meanwhile we passed village after village of small huts with tiny garden plots and many, many sheep and goat herders walking their flocks up and down the roads. The country is quite impoverished but everyone seemed very friendly and inviting. Lesotho was really nice and we could have spent much more time there exploring but the sun goes down quickly in the mountains and we needed to find our campsite. We turned off the paved highway onto a small dirt road in the direction of Katse Dam were we had planned to camp. (to be continued...)