When it Snows in Africa - And Other Adventures in Lesotho

As Dad and I continue to travel through the Kingdom of Lesotho (wow, that does sound Lord of the Ring-like), we decide to leave the one paved road and B-line it for our Katse Dam via a semi-major road (according to the map we were given at the border). The road steadily got worse and worse. Our truck was already struggling in the dirt, forcing us to go a fraction of the speed we were averaging on the main highway. With the sun setting we decided to skip the risk of being stranded in the dark on a near in-passable road and instead turned ourselves around back to the paved highway. 

The start of the road off the main highway. It progressively went from gravel, to dirt and mud. 

About two hours behind schedule at this point, and the sun setting fast, we followed the main road north, desperately keeping our eyes peeled for a safe place to camp, or a welcome looking hostel. The camping option was quickly nixed as the temperature began to drop with the sun. The hostel option was also starting to look a bit grim. Lesotho is not big for foreign tourism, and when the local people are trying to survive as shepherds in a mountainous, freezing, treeless terrain, I don't think many people are spending money travelling within the country either. 

The traffic in Lesotho got a bit out of hand sometimes. 

 Finally, just as the sun was setting (around 5pm) we drove into Whistler and set our eyes on the ski hill. No, we weren't hallucinating, Lesotho is home to the Afriski Resort!

We got ourselves a room in the hostel, and enjoyed a delicious pizza dinner at the ski-lodge style restaurant. Packed with families, we could tell this was a popular South African destination.

In the morning we got a good look at the ski hill. It might not rival BC mountains, but not bad for Africa I'd say. 

In the morning we were off to the border to cross back into Africa. As we left I stared back, marveling at the snowy mountain. Snow in Africa, who'd of thunk?