Travel report: Lesotho
Country ranking by area: #138
Country ranking by population: #142
Date of visit: March 2016
The small and rather unknown country of Lesotho is one of the countries I’ve only visited briefly on a day trip.
Day trip to Lesotho from South Africa
Lesotho is a small enclave in South Africa. It is also the highest country in the world; its lowest point is still 1,400 meters above sea level (#2 and #3 are Rwanda and Andorra by the way). When I was in South Africa, I added a day trip to Lesotho to my Drakensberg tour. This whole trip to the Drakensberg mountains turned out to be one of the highlights of my whole trip in South Africa.
We started early in the morning at a backpacker lodge in the Drakensberg region. Two minivans would take us up the famous Sani Pass and to Lesotho afterwards. Sitting in these vans was not very pleasant. Too many people were in it and the bad condition of the roads made it really uncomfortable. But that’s the price you pay when traveling and I don’t want to complain. At least, the bus was full of great people from all over the world. Besides, I didn’t join a wellness tour but wanted to see another country.
Driving from South Africa to Lesotho was already worth the trip. The nature we saw was absolutely stunning. We drove through famous Sani Pass, which is simply incredible and should be on every South Africa itinerary. Unfortunately, most people focus too strong on the Garden Route and skip the Drakensberg mountains, which is a mistake in my opinion.
Travelers obviously have to bring their passport, as you cross the border between South Africa and Lesotho. Procedures at the customs went surprisingly fast though, and we got two stamps into our passports (and two more when we left the country). Fun fact: the king has his own flag showing a crocodile on a shield. However, there are no crocodiles in Lesotho due to the country’s high altitude.
Our tour guide, two white men from South Africa, told us a bit about Lesotho. As I said, this is a more or less unknown country to many. What many don’t know is that Lesotho is one of the safest countries in Africa. The king is surprisingly very popular among the people, which rather the exception than the rule in this part of the world. However, the king of Lesotho actually cares about his people (not like the king in Swaziland for example for example who is rather known for the exploitation of his people).
The places we visited in Lesotho were 2,500-3,200 (well, threethousendsomewhat) meters above sea. An altitude that high was something new to me and I felt that the air got thinner and thinner. We didn’t even hike, but even small strolls got very exhausting after a few minutes.
Needless to say that it was cold. I took my winter jacket with me and I really needed it. Some of the backpackers in our group wore flip-flops and shorts though. Our tour guide took us to a place where you could see Mafadi, the highest peak of South Africa right at the border to Lesotho. “If you guys are German, Swiss or Austrian, this view is nothing special for you, but at least you can say that you have seen it,” he said. “I don’t wanna hear any complaints if you’re Dutch though!”
People “watching” in Lesotho
The next stop of our tour was a little village. The huts were made out of stone and straw or in other words the most basic “houses” I have ever seen. We entered one of these huts and got homemade bread and beer to taste. The tour guide explained a bit more about the people in Lesotho and we could ask questions. I learned that the people in Lesotho have more or less the same etiquette like the people in South Africa. Moreover, the economy in Lesotho heavily relies on South Africa, as most of their income comes from exporting water to the neighboring country.
We left the hut and and became witness to a dance performance. Five local men showed us their skills. It was a strange show. Generally, it’s a bit weird to visit rural areas and see the locals performing a dance or something similar. It’s not very authentic and a big show for the tourists. It’s a bit like going to a zoo. Of course, the local people earn money from it, but I wonder how they feel when 20 white people stare at them and take pictures.
By the way, the woolly hats you see on the picture above are common in Lesotho. It keeps their faces warm at the higher altitude of the country.
The Sani Mountain Lodge was the last stop on the tour. They owner names it the highest pub in Africa and that’s marketing-wise definitely a great strategy, as many tourists want to have a beer in the continent’s highest watering hole.
We spent maybe an hour in the pub before we headed back to Durban.
My travel experience in Lesotho
As I have mentioned before, the day trip to Lesotho was one of my highlights during my holidays in South Africa. I haven’t seen much of the country and I really don’t know if I will be back someday. The country is not easily accessible, as the only airport in the country has flights to one destination only: Johannesburg. Besides, there are so many other African countries I want to visit in the near future so that I don’t think that I will skip one of those in order to revisit Lesotho. But you never know…
Find the reports of the other countries I’ve visited here!
