Trippin' and Bumpin', Bumpin' and Trippin'

Hey All -

Got back from my wonderful trip into the Southern Drakensberg yesterday evening. It was a weekend full of stunning vistas, beautiful (cool) weather, and one gut-wrenching trip up the Sani Pass into Lesotho in a Landie (South African for Land Rover).

The Drakensberg range is actually not so far from Durban - 2.5 or 3 hours - but we left at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning, enabling us to get as much out of the weekend as possible. We arrived at the backpackers' lodge by 9am and immediately piled into the Land Rover that had come to take us up the Pass. It was an extremely entertaining and bouncy ride; we climbed more than 5,000 feet over the course of less than 5 miles.


After making the final ascent and passing through Passport Control, we entered the 'Mountain Kingdom' of Lesotho. This was a memorable experience for two, very distinct, reasons: the obvious poverty of the people and the flatness of the terrain (I guess I hadn't really mentally accounted for the fact that the top of a plateau - regardless of how steep it's sides are - is always going to be relatively level).

We went to go visit one of the small villages several kilometers from the Pass and were greeted by a family living in several small, thatched-roof huts.

The two siblings who lived in the household were extraordinarily cute - but seemingly malnourished and undersized.

We also got to see the massive herds of sheep and goats that comprise the bulk of the economy of the Basotho people. The animals are too precious to be eaten for food; the wool and angora they produce provides a steady, but very small, income for the families who own the herds. Additionally, the weather in parts of Lesotho drop to such extremes in the winter (July and August) that the shepards are forced to relocate the animals to warmer areas.


We also managed to stop for a beer or two (Black Label is favorite SA brew) at the Sani Pass Lodge, billed as the 'Highest Pub in Africa' - at an elevation of more that 2,800 meters.

After coming back down the pass, we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the nearby river, watching Sharks - the the local Durban rugby team; Go Sharks! - beat the Bloemfontein Cheetahs and take possession of first place in the Super 14, and having a delicious, home cooked dinner in the beautiful farmhouse located just next to our lodgings.

The next day was spent on a wonderful hike to several waterfalls and then up to one of the rocky bluffs overlooking the Drakensberg Valley.



All told, it was a wonderful weekend and I was sad to have to head back to Durban. However, I certainly plan to check out other sites in the 'berg in the coming months and I am personally of the opinion that it's never a bad thing to leave 'em wanting more.

And that's exactly what I aim to do. As always, the rest of my photos can be found on my Flickr stream. Hope you all had wonderful weekends as well, and I'll be back soon with some more posts.