I have decided to do a serious of articles on my travels, showing the places I have been and sharing them with those that like to see the world we live in. I hope to not only give you fun and enjoyment, but maybe even inspire you to go there. My first piece is on Lesotho. I will do this in three pieces, featuring the Eastern Free State, Katse Dam and Sani Pass.
Setting off
In 2013, we (my wife and I and our two pre-teen kids) decided to do an autumn trip to the mountain kingdom of Lesotho. This landlocked country is very rugged and beautiful, and is mostly high up in the mountains. The highest point in Southern Africa is located here, but more about that later.
Image Credit: www.worldatlas.com
It was late autumn, and was already really cold. We chose a great time to go if you like inclement weather (which I do by the way), and set off in my trusty Nissan X-Trail 4x4 with the family. Our first stop was going to be in the Eastern Free State, in a beautiful little farm at the foot of the Maloti mountains, part of the Drakensberg system. These mountains are characterised by their beautiful soft rock formations and colours at sunrise and set.
The trip to our first stop took us through Clarence, a very rustic and popular North Eastern Free State town known for its artists and eateries. On the way there we were struck by the autumn colours and could not help but stop and take a number of pictures of this mainly agricultural area where you can find farming operations including cattle, dairy, corn and various other crops. Most of the countryside is grassland, with rolling hills increasing as you approach the Maloti’s.
It is a nice peaceful drive, but you have to be careful of poorly maintained tarred roads, with many pot holes, so keep an eye out, especially if you are not driving a robust vehicle.
Arriving in Clarence after about 3.5 hours’ drive from our home in Johannesburg, it was time to let the kids run free, and explore some of the lovely galleries in the town. It was easy to see why it is called the “jewel of the eastern Free State”. The town was established in 1912 and named after a town in Switzerland where the President of the Transvaal Republic, Paul Kruger was exiled by the British. Besides an incredibly beautiful town where there is lots of meandering to be done and many guest houses to choose from, the town is also at entrance to the Golden Gate Highlands National park. Here you can get a taste of the incredible sandstone formations I earlier spoke about. There is also a range of outdoor activities and live music on the weekends.
From Clarence we drove to Fouriesburg (where we could have entered Lesotho at Caledonspoort Border crossing), and then on to our guest farm, Malutizicht. On our way to Fouriesburg we took the time to see one of the many battlegrounds of the Anglo Boer war, a war of independence the Afrikaners fought against their British occupiers at the time. At Surrender Hill the Boers under General Christiaan de Wet was handed one of their largest setbacks in July 1900 when more than 4000 troops surrendered. De Wet and 2000 others escaped through the mountains.
In the picture where I am standing with my daughter, we are looking at the open area where a massive amount of ammunition was blown up by the British after the surrender.
From there, in single digit temperatures, we made our way to our guest house on the beautiful farm Malutizicht (translated as Moluti view).
During our stay, we had an incredible amount of rain and it was ice cold. The large fire helped, and besides me and my son braving an early morning stroll up the hills behind us, board games and reading was at the order of the day. It is not a river, but the road from the house below.
After a lovely two evenings it was time to pack and head to Lesotho. The journey continues…