Lesotho Highlands

Springbok.

Blesbok, not the best photos but taken with a long zoom from a vibrating truck.

The geography of Golden Gate Highlands NP.

A valley of farmland in Lesotho.

Traditional shepard. 

A room with a view....

Rural life.

Our rondaval accommodation. 

Our affable driver Colin.

Check what the maze is made from.

Jay minding his mac and cheese creation.

Wednesday, December 6^th.

We set off by seven and began our drive to Lesotho. Yesterday was with a separate company and into the northeast corner of the country, today the whole group is travelling with Intrepid in the northern part.

We drove for a couple of hours on the road that drives right through Golden Gate Highlands National Park. This park was created because of the beautiful sandstone rock formations and the government has restocked this small park with several types of antelopes and small mammals. We saw a few herds of blesbok, as well as several springbok and two baboons loping across the open fields. We drove for another couple of hours before stopping in the town of Ladybrandt for groceries and lunches. This town had a much more relaxed and safe feel to it than the town we stopped in yesterday. The Spar store was much less crowded and more relaxed. I helped Jay with the groceries again and loading them in the truck.

Then we continued to the border crossing at Maseru. We exited South Africa and entered Lesthoto easily. I crossed into Lesthoto two days in a row. This was a much busier area and we drove into a large city and the road remained paved. We drove right through Maseru and out into the country. We drove for about an hour before we turned onto a dirt road which we bumped along until we got to the 'gates of paradise'. This was a beautiful viewpoint right where the road descends down into the valley. We stopped there and stretched and took photos before we completed the 17 kilometre drive over the very bumpy dirt and rock road to our new camp. We are staying at Malealea Lodge in little rondavals. As soon as we got settled a man came down and told us about the activities we could sign up to do tomorrow. They offer a variety of hikes, horse rides and mountain biking.

Then we had a beer in the bar and a children choir followed by a small band of musicians came up and entertained us. When that was finished we walked back down to our site and watched as Jay finished making a macaroni and cheese (with three cheeses) in a cast iron pot over a fire. It was very good. Then we hung around for a bit talking. I headed off to bed early as I was very tired.