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Travelling through the landlocked miniature state of Lesotho
20 February 2006 - How on
earth will this adventure end, as there have been so many exciting experiences
already, that there will be hard just to describe them in a web blog like this.
After five days touring Lesotho’s highlands. We departed from Heather, Patrick
and close to one hundred orphaned children at Gods Golden Acre in Kwazulu Natal
on Thursday 16 February and it was really sad that we had to leave. We had made
so close friend in just a few days and I believe this friendship will last for
many many years. We had to continue to keep up with the itinerary and planned
tasks, so we ascended the Sani Pass late in the afternoon and tried to exit the
South Africa border before closing time.
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The first of many challenges the coming days were to get up
the pass before dark. We made it to the border at 4.30 and half an hour too
late, but we produced a begging smile and we went through. We could easily have
camped close to the border if we were stopped, but the warnings from several
motorists coming down the slope was uncalled for. To be honest, I haven’t looked
forward to climb up here with Betsy as I was not sure of the road conditions, it
being rainy season an all. My worries came to rest as I noticed her doing the
hills without any problem what so ever. Driving around with a woman that has
gained that much weight the last 18 months keeps me sometimes awake at night,
but she is trying to tell something else.
When Betsy was young and inexperienced, we did the Sani Pass during Easter
holidays, I guess she remembered and sparked of joy running over those horrible
gravel roads. Tore mentioned that it was a shame that they didn’t fix the roads,
but I guess he didn’t know that this is not a major entry or exit point for
Lesotho, the climate makes it almost impossible to maintain those curvy slopes
and last, remember that Lesotho is a very poor country.
Our days in Lesotho was a journey into something that we haven’t expected, to
mention the diversity of camping sites; first night a wonderful heavenly lawn (although
very moist) on top of the pass overlooking the mighty mountains of Drakensberg,
15 meters away from the highest pub in Africa. The second night we couldn’t find
a place before dark and as a rule for this project that should never happen, not
even in a peaceful country like Lesotho. As we were above 3200 meters above sea
level, there was no settlements or danger of finding ourselves in a Ghetto, but
as long as we don’t have any waypoints that are telling us where to go, we
should determine a camp a couple of hours before sunset. Luck struck…. We passed
a sign that said something about Afterski and we made a u-turn and found a nice
little ski resort that could provide Tore with shelter for the night as spending
another night with temperatures below 5 degrees was not very tempting for him.
The sleeping arrangement inside Betsy is as comfortable as any accommodation can
be, I kept my self warm in Betsy’s penthouse. The third and fourth night was in
the middle of the capital Maseru at a place called Khali Hotel. The last night
in the far south not far from Quoteng.
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