A Dream &  A Truck
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • Mail
  • Rss
  • | STORIES |
  • WORLD TOUR
  • TOURS
    • TOUR 2017-2018
    • TOUR 2016-2017
  • PHILOSOPHY
  • TEAM
    • PETRA ABOUT WIN
    • WIN ABOUT PETRA
    • OUR TRUCK
    • HELPING HANDS
  • CONTACT
  • Menu Menu

Thursday, November 23, 2017 | South Africa – Western Cape, Knysna | Petra

IN THE KINGDOM OF LESOTHO

THE KINGDOM IN THE SKY

We are very curious about the small enclave in the middle of South Africa, so many travelers we met enthused over. With a new stamp in our passports we delve into a new part of africa.

Maps were disabled by the visitor on this site. Click to open the map in a new window.

It is the particular altitude of Lesotho, why it also has the poetic title “The Kingdom in the Sky“. The bottom is at 1,390 metres and the highest mountain is Thabana Ntlenyana with 3,482 metres. About 80 percent of the Lesotho area is over 1,800 metres altitude.

Reservoir Katse Dam, Malibamatšo River

On our tour North to South through Lesotho we gaze at a breath taking world of mountains, sweeping clouds and huge reservoirs, we drive on winding passes, enjoy a relaxing night at 3,102 metres altitude with absolutely no wind and meet wonderful nice and friendly people. We feel very welcome.

We are thrilled by the relaxed and cosy atmosphere of the country right from the beginning. When we use our new words “Dumela!” to say hello or “Salahandle.” to say goodbye, we always get a happy smile.

The tyre on the thatch roof is dedicated to protect from lighting strike (it works as well for the car with four tyres)

The little villages are widespread up to the top of the mountains, each spot of fertile soil is used as a field and mostly tilled with an ox-drawn cart and by hand. Mobile phones are as common as herdsmen, most of the children are visiting school and many of the people also can speak English.

Filling stations are rare, but there are some. Sometimes they run out of petrol or diesel. Maybe they’ll have some tomorrow, maybe not. On the roads traffic is relaxed and with no rush.

Snack bar at the main road
Rush hour in the capital Maseru
The tyre dealer you can trust
Full-range offering – cigarettes, potatoes, mobile phone contracts

Further down it is nice and warm like in summer, in higher reaches of the mountains it’s quite cold. The weather can change very quickly, as we witness over night. In the afternoon we heaten our grill for a nice summer braai wearing beach slippers. The next morning I rummage around for woolen trousers, gloves, beanies and down jackets. Winter came back over night and we have snow in the mountains. Brrr!

We don’t care in the least. First we have our winter equipment on board (absolutely necessary in South African summer!), second we are completely diverted. It’s a lucky coincidence, that the spectacular “Roof of Africa“, one of the toughest off-road motorbike races takes place when we are around Bushmens Pass. Is this cool or cool?

We take our time for this very special occasion and watch the dramatic mountain race of the tough men and women on their bikes. The snow hit them hard, too. Last year they had to deal with 30 degree, now it’s freezing cold. By the way, many of the tricky passages on the track would be a problem even for hikers.

Enduro sport and off-roading is a very popular sport and leisure activity predominantly of the white South African. Lesotho with it’s challenging terrain is the perfect play ground for this international race.

After hours of racing the bikes get their shower first

Even for the kids of the area this event is very exciting. It’s their chance to snatch something interesting. They friendly ask spectators for some Rand, hope to get sweets, lemonade or even some cast-off clothing, somebody brought from South Africa.

King is, who managed to get a can of Red Bull.

Filled with new wonderful impressions we leave Lesotho after we spent some days there. We are very happy that we came to visit and explore the friendly kingdom. It was nice meeting Lesotho.

Kealeboha (Thank you) & Salahandle (Bye, bye)!

2 replies
  1. David Ford says:
    31. December 2017 at 5:43

    Hi, we were camped just opposite you in Lesotho. Roma camp site. LOVE the vehicle. We visit ‘The Roof’ every year. It’s an amazing place and amazing race. Glad you had a great experience. Hope its a safe trip to the finnish. All the best.

    Reply
    • Petra says:
      1. January 2018 at 21:53

      Hi David,
      Happy New Year! Thank you very much for your kind message. Yes, we remember you and it’s a pity that we didn’t talk to each other. We enjoy our tour very much and we’re happy to meet so many friendly people. Have yourself a great time.
      Petra & Win

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts

  • SLEEPLESS IN NAMIBIA7. September 2019 - 16:00
  • CHEERFUL MALAWI25. August 2019 - 19:00
  • SOUTH LUANGWA IS A PARADISE14. August 2019 - 19:00

All Posts

Overview >

Categories

  • Africa 2017-2018
  • Africa 2019
  • Austria 2015
  • Croatia 2015
  • France 2016
  • Italy 2015
  • Italy 2016
  • Japan 2016
  • Morocco 2017
  • Portugal 2017
  • Spain 2016-2017
  • | General

Newsletter

Our newsletter informs you about the experiences on our journey. Information on registration procedures, shipping, statistical evaluation and revocation can be found in our privacy policy

We’re in

© Copyright 2015 – A Dream & A Truck
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • Mail
  • Rss
  • IMPRINT
  • PRIVACY
  • SITEMAP
  • CONTACT
DRAKENSBERG | 2BIG COUNTRY
Scroll to top

We use cookies on this website to offer social media features and to analyze the use of our website. If you visit our website you accept the use of cookies.

OKDetails

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Accept settingsHide notification only
  • DEUTSCH
  • ENGLISH