Africa Part 3: Up the pass and into Lesotho

My next adventure started at 6am with a cheerful greeting by Dave, my faithful tour guide.  We were off to the mountains thru the gentle mist of an early morning, enjoying the quiet that comes with a Sunday morning.  After 2 hours driving through pine tree farms we arrived at Underberg.  Here, I was handed from Dave to Charles, who would be the guide for the trip up the Sani Pass and into the mountain kingdom of Lesotho.  I was joined at this point by a Dutch couple who were 1 week into their 3 week holiday trip to S. Africa. 

In a blue Land Rover that had seen much better days, our group was off to begin our ascent into the Drakenburg mountains, which is both a UNESCO heritage site and a protected nature reserve.  As the road gradually got steeper, we passed through rolling green slopes and came upon a troop of baboons out for a morning frolick.  Finally we reach the South Africian border control, and enter into No Mans Land, where only 4-wheel drive vehicles are permitted.

At this point, the slope increases, the road becomes nothing more then a narrow tow-path full of rocks and hairpin turns.  These curves have been named by the locals as "Devil's Elbow", "Suicide Corner" and "Don't look to your left"....to name a few!  Needless to say, I was gripping the seat and praying that the seat belt held!

Much relief was had when we reached the top, and passed through Lesotho immigration.    We only spent a few hours in Lesotho, but in that time we went to a border village and spent time with some local woman, listening as they told us the history of the independent kingdom which is completly surrounded by South Africa.   We were treated to freshly made bread (wonderful!) and beer (a bit on the unusual side).   Afterwards we lunched at the Sani Top Lodge, the highest pub in Africa at 9000 ft above sea level!

 

At the end of the day, we made our way back down the pass, which had not gotten any less frightening in the hours we were off of it.   Finally, we made it back to the bottom, where I met back up with Dave and headed back to the coast!