Mountain and Pony Treking in Lesotho

I hope everyone had an amazing Canada Day! Anyways, I must tell you about the most amazing trip I had these past days! I and 6 others of my roommates decided to take a trip to Lesotho. Lesotho is this really tiny, rural country embedded inside South Africa. So myself (1 Canadian), 1 German, 1 South African, 2 Estonians, and 2 Dutch head off on this amazing 4 day road trip to Lesotho. I really wanted to go Lesotho and wasn’t exactly sure that when I got here anyone would be willing to go with me. My interest to travel here was sparked by the travel doctor who worked here for 2 years on a project funded by the government to do research on HIV/AIDS. Now since I’ve got here all I’ve seen is the city, and it doesn’t give me too much to a glimpse of the real rural Africa. Here the malls are big, restaurants are everywhere, at times I felt it was very much like Canada. So this trip was an eye opener.

It took us one and half days to drive to Lesotho. On our first night we stopped off just close to the border at a mountain Chalet and stayed there for the night. Once we got off the highway the roads were horrible (pure dirt and rocks). So rugged and bumpy, it’s a good thing I don’t get car sickness. You couldn’t see anything. We were so surprised that we had a tv in our cabin. The next morning when we got up…..you should have seen the view of our resort. Holy shit! It was gorgeous, it was so dark the night before that I didn’t see anything. Our cabin was on the top of a mountain and the we were surrounded by mountains and valleys everywhere. You could see the small village huts from far away.

The whole purpose of the trip was to go to this place called The Sani Top Chalet, in which my roommate Bende had gone to last year to do some hiking in the mountains. Lesotho is nothing, but mountain after mountains. So literally the whole time we’re driving up and down the mountain at the edge of a dirt cliff. Definitely the bumpiest ride of my life. We passed so many rural communities, and these houses were made of nothing but stones, mud, and grass. Sheep, cows, and donkeys were everywhere. We stopped in the small village for a bathroom break for the girls, and the guys wanted to buy some beer. Everyone was staring at us (since we were all foreigners….thank god Bende was from SA (and black) so he did all the talking). As we passed the villages small children would stop and wave to us, sometimes sticking out their hands because they were expecting sweets. Ever been stopped by a herd of sheep or oxes while driving at the edge of a mountain…..we nearly hit some on our drive there. As I was going to the bathroom I was trying to not step on donkey poop which was everywhere. The outhouse was really clean…not smelly at all compared to the ones I experienced while camping back home.

When we got to The Sani Top Chalet, it was extremely foggy. This place was popular for having the highest Pub in Africa. You couldn’t see anything it was so foggy we couldn’t even drive. It was a small resort with about 15 others staying there. We had an authentic Lesotho dinner that night. Lesotho is a mountain country so it’s really cold. Yes, it can even snow up here. Can you believe that you can even cross country ski at this resort….yes……..in Africa that was a shocker to me. That night I slept and when I breathed into the air, I could see smoke. The next day we went on a 4 hour hike up a mountain. It was amazing. And finally the best part….I got to go on my pony trekking ride that I wanted to in the mountains. We even when quading ( those desert motor bikes).

On Sat. night we nearly didn’t get to cross the border back into SA. Our hike and pony trek ride had taken a lot longer expected. We were so persistent on leaving at 3:30pm because the border was closing at 4pm. Rego drove so fast down that mountain, it was hilarious……….if my mother had seen the way he drove….she would have had a heart attack. Needless to say we got the border at 4:15pm (LATE). We begged the guy to please let us pass as we didn’t have anywhere to stay in Lesotho and our accommodation was in SA on the other side. He firmly stood still, and in a mean tone said, “Do you realize what time it is………..you are LATE! What time does the border close at?” We all just stood silent. I didn’t think he’d give in, but luckily he did and we were in SA in minutes.

http://www.sanitopchalet.co.za