Jan – Feb 2017

Circumnavigating Lesotho

A 25-day adventure by Jill Read more

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Trip start
January 16, 2017
Traveler Circumnavigating Lesotho
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- Day 1
- Monday, January 16, 2017 at 4:29 PM
- ☀️ 21 °C
- Altitude: 1,212 m
- South Africa Modimolle -24.68397, 28.3802724°41’2” S 28°22’49” E
Getting ready to roll...
January 16, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Juanita has been serviced, my hair has been cut, final shopping is done - all that's left is to pack: equipment, food (including bread-making stuff), warm clothes for the mountains and swimming costumes in case. We're almost ready to roll!Read more
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- Day 2
- Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at 8:45 AM
- ☀️ 21 °C
- Altitude: 1,011 m
- South Africa Radium -25.0636, 28.322225°3’49” S 28°19’20” E
We're rolling!
January 17, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
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- Day 2
- Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at 11:49 AM
- ☀️ 20 °C
- Altitude: 1,527 m
- South Africa Villiers -27.00368, 28.6008627°0’13” S 28°36’3” E
Lunch at Villiers
January 17, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
An OK drive to Villiers. We have been swapping drivers regularly. We have stopped for lunch at the Wimpy here and will now leave the N3.
Wimpy looking up when they serve balsamic and olive oil.
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- Day 2
- Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at 7:48 PM
- 🌙 13 °C
- Altitude: 1,727 m
- South Africa Dihlabeng -28.376902, 28.39471528°22’37” S 28°23’41” E
Vrystaat!
January 17, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ 🌙 13 °C
The Free State is as flat as ever. But today it was a brilliant green! Lots of mielies! But I couldn't get a good picture flying by at 120 kph.
The first signs of the escarpment and the Maluti mountains was especially welcome...Read more
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- Day 2
- Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at 7:59 PM
- 🌙 13 °C
- Altitude: 1,733 m
- South Africa Clarens -28.5271, 28.4276728°31’38” S 28°25’40” E
The more things change...
January 17, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ 🌙 13 °C
The more they stay the same. Bethlehem is unrecognizable as the same town we travelled through 60 years ago, and Clarens is now a tourist trap instead of a little Vrystaat dorp.
But the Escarpment is still there, as is the Ship Rock (proper name the Titanic 'cos Clarens became a town in 1912) and the poplar trees have almost taken over.
I think the little box is the old Police Station where Dolfie and I had to beg for petrol on a Sunday in about 1985.Read more
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- Day 2
- Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at 8:11 PM
- 🌙 13 °C
- Altitude: 1,733 m
- South Africa Clarens -28.5271, 28.4276728°31’38” S 28°25’40” E
... in Clarens
January 17, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ 🌙 13 °C
We are staying in one of the Clarens Cottages. It is very modern, very comfortable and a bit impersonal. But it's in Clarens, so it's fine! It's also a lot cooler in Clarens than in Modimolle: we are threatened with a low of 8 degC tonight. Brrrr.Read more
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- Day 3
- Wednesday, January 18, 2017
- ☀️ 1 °C
- Altitude: 1,798 m
- South Africa Dihlabeng -28.46119, 28.3913728°27’40” S 28°23’29” E
Clarens day 2
January 18, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 1 °C
We actually managed 3 exciting things today: We drove several kms back towards Bethlehem to look at the Ash River Outfall. This is where the water from the Lesotho Highlands Water Project flows out of a 40 km long pipe all the way from Katse Dam into the Ash River and thence to the Wilge and Vaal Rivers. Then we struggled to find an entrance to the Clarens Nature Reserve. Actually there are lots and trails go all over the mountain even to Ship Rock. Then this evening we dined at the Highlander Restaurant with cousin Diana and her Clarens family: Angela, Roger and grandson Sebastian.Read more
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- Day 4
- Thursday, January 19, 2017 at 8:15 AM
- ☀️ 18 °C
- Altitude: 1,597 m
- South Africa Little Caledon River -28.69614, 28.2343528°41’46” S 28°14’4” E
Caledonspoort Border Post
January 19, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
So into Lesotho we go. No problems at all at the border with chatty types on both sides.
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- Day 4
- Thursday, January 19, 2017 at 10:29 AM
- ⛅ -10 °C
- Altitude: 3,097 m
- Lesotho Limamarela Community -29.06476, 28.4060329°3’53” S 28°24’22” E
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Top of the World
January 19, 2017 in Lesotho ⋅ ⛅ -10 °C
View point at top of pass.
Well Bill created this Footprint when we were there but unable to post anything. So here are the pictures from the Top of the World.
Michele TarbotonHi Jill, this wont let me see your full write ups. I can read and see some of it in the email notification but when I try and see the whole thing here I'm told that "Jill Cairns' footprint is private". What should I be doing?
1/22/17Reply
TravelerNow that you're 'Following' can you see the whole thing?
1/22/17Reply
TravelerIt would appear that you post failed to post. A case of post traumatic stress disorder?
1/22/17Reply
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- Day 4
- Thursday, January 19, 2017 at 1:00 PM
- ⛅ 25 °C
- Altitude: 2,025 m
- Lesotho Katse Dam -29.33875, 28.5040829°20’20” S 28°30’15” E
Katse Dam
January 19, 2017 in Lesotho ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
It took us 5 hours from Clarens to the Dam wall with all the stops for oohs and ahs and pics and driving hazards, but it's worth the drive!
Here are our first impressions:
First sight of the Dam wall, the Malimabat'so river below the wall, view of the wall from below the Dam, looking back upriver from the Dam wall, approaching the bridge over the dam (18 km upstream) on our way back to Clarens (20/1).Read more
Michele TarbotonIt's fun recognising all the places we visited last year. Looks as though you had great weather. No pics of the storm?
1/30/17Reply
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- Day 4
- Thursday, January 19, 2017 at 1:30 PM
- ☀️ 19 °C
- Altitude: 2,096 m
- Lesotho Bokung River -29.33043, 28.4809929°19’50” S 28°28’52” E
Orion Katse Lodge
January 19, 2017 in Lesotho ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Finally made it to the Lodge only to find our booking was just a room - no self-catering 😑
Oh well.
The room is reasonably appointed with a shower in the bathtub. We will just have to have dinner and breakfast in the dining room! (Turned out we paid more for food than for the room.)
The views from our room and from the dining room were stunning!Read more
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- Day 4
- Thursday, January 19, 2017 at 3:31 PM
- 🌧 13 °C
- Altitude: 2,054 m
- Lesotho Katse Dam -29.33629, 28.5066429°20’11” S 28°30’24” E
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1 1 1 1 1
Katse Dam wall tour
January 19, 2017 in Lesotho ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
On our way from the Dam to Katse Lodge we stopped at the Visitors' Centre to enquire about tours. Angela had insisted we should do a tour that goes through a tunnel. There was a tour to the Dam wall at 14h00. It was then 13h15.
Decisions, decisions.
We decided to check how far it was to the Lodge and then decide.
Well, it took about 10 mins, so we collected our key, looked at the room and drove back to the Visitors' Centre. We had crackers and cheese and Coke for lunch and then waited for about half an hour for Neo the tour guide to turn up.
But it was all worth it! The Dam wall is an amazing feat of engineering. And it is full of tunnels with all sorts of cables, laser beams and other technology that monitors every groan and sigh.
Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the Wall, but we made the most of it outside.
We even drove across the wall and stopped to admire the view and take more pictures.
This morning we took the short cut back across the wall (we had asked the guard very nicely yesterday if we might) which saved about 30 mins of driving round and round and up and down.Read more
Traveler We parked up here: Neo and an official from the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA - who had the keys) went in one bakkie and we followed in Juanita. This is level Hermann and we went in the door at the end of the wall. Levels go down to O and presumably up to A; each has its own arched tunnel and is linked to the levels above and below by a steel spiral staircase.
2/2/17Reply
Traveler Level H! (Predictive text 😠)
2/2/17Reply
Traveler This lower sluice is always open to keep water in the river below the Dam.
2/2/17Reply
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- Day 4
- Thursday, January 19, 2017
- ☀️ 1 °C
- Altitude: 2,166 m
- Lesotho Limamarela Community -29.22472, 28.4814229°13’29” S 28°28’53” E
Driving in Lesotho
January 19, 2017 in Lesotho ⋅ ☀️ 1 °C
Driving in Lesotho - especially to Katse Dam - is both hazardous and stressful. High, steep mountain passes, up and down around and around. You cannot drive fast because around the next bend might be a group of cattle/donkeys/sheep, a rider galloping a Basotho pony or a series of potholes. We even encountered a big rockfall which covered half the road. Fortunately it had happened before we got there...Read more
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- Day 4
- Thursday, January 19, 2017
- ⛅ 4 °C
- Altitude: 2,538 m
- Lesotho Laoti -29.00801, 28.5045129°0’29” S 28°30’16” E
Living in Lesotho
January 19, 2017 in Lesotho ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C
Some pics of people and places on our route. There were lots of little settlements and a couple of bigger towns. Every available slope was covered with mealies. And everything was GREEN!!
Pictures of a settlement, mealies everywhere, moving the ploughing machinery and solar Street lighting in Leribe.Read more
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- Day 5
- Friday, January 20, 2017 at 4:58 PM
- ⛅ 25 °C
- Altitude: 1,907 m
- South Africa Glen Reenen -28.50568, 28.6169128°30’20” S 28°37’1” E
Golden Gate
January 20, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
We left Katse this morning at 8 and got to the border at 12. Much better than yesterday. We picked up a Mosotho mama at the border and dropped her in Clarens.
We needed to pick up Bill's pills at the chemist, return Angela's triangles to Roger's bottle Store (which she kindly lent us in case of road blocks in Lesotho) and replenish some food so a stop in Clarens was cool. We bought meat pies at a local bakery and sat on the town square lawn to eat them and drink much needed Coke!
And so we arrived safely at Golden Gate.Read more
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- Day 6
- Saturday, January 21, 2017 at 9:34 AM
- ⛅ 17 °C
- Altitude: 1,910 m
- South Africa Glen Reenen -28.50573, 28.6168228°30’21” S 28°37’1” E
Golden Gate Day 1
January 21, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Cold, windy and overcast. The rondavel is very gloomy so we slept 'til 7. Walked towards the natural swimming pool, but it's frustrating not to be able to scramble up mountains any more 😕
A red-wing starling came looking for handouts.Read more
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- Day 6
- Saturday, January 21, 2017 at 6:03 PM
- ☀️ 29 °C
- Altitude: 1,910 m
- South Africa Glen Reenen -28.50576, 28.6169628°30’21” S 28°37’1” E
Golden Gate Day 1 some more
January 21, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
A drive around Blesbok Loop yielded a few blesbok and some black wildebeest - and lots of pretty wild flowers and Golden Gate scenery. We walked in the campsite this afternoon. Crossed the bridge but balked at steep steps immediately over the river 😔Read more
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- Day 7
- Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 9:09 AM
- ☀️ 25 °C
- Altitude: 1,910 m
- South Africa Glen Reenen -28.50573, 28.6169728°30’21” S 28°37’1” E
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A pilgrimage
January 22, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Every time I or any of my sisters go to Golden Gate we make a pilgrimage to the van Reenen family graveyard. In our youth we spent many an Easter weekend at Lusthof, farm of Oom Percy and Aunt Lily de la Harpe. Aunt Lily and Aunt Rosie, who were both van Reenens, are buried here.
Two other graves are those of Valerie Wilcocks and Jan Bestendig de la Harpe who were killed by lightning in the Berg in 1932.
My father was riding with them (all on horseback).
The other 2 pics are of the dam and the picnic spot near the graveyard.Read more
TravelerThis one works. The previous 2 are not quite there. A grave situation....
1/22/17Reply
Traveler Pete: Yes - we haven't done all the Lesotho text yet. I was offline for the duration 😑 They're coming!
1/22/17Reply
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- Day 7
- Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 3:07 PM
- ⛅ 26 °C
- Altitude: 1,908 m
- South Africa Glen Reenen -28.50536, 28.617128°30’19” S 28°37’2” E
Golden Gate Day 2
January 22, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Today was the day for the vulture restaurant.
But it doesn't seem to exist 😣
Not a single vulture and no new carcass.
However the wild flowers were lovely and the scenery stunning.
We have resident Piet-my-vrous and Diderikies and of course red-wing and pied starlings. We claimed 2 Cape vultures soaring in the west of the Park this evening.
A lifer today: mountain wagtail. (Warwick will say they don't come here...)Read more
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- Day 8
- Monday, January 23, 2017 at 9:23 AM
- ☀️ 20 °C
- Altitude: 1,809 m
- South Africa Dihlabeng -28.608415, 28.3737328°36’30” S 28°22’25” E
For my Sistas!
January 23, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Well, there was a sign to 'Surrender Hill' ie Lusthof, so on our way from Golden Gate to Hobhouse I insisted on the detour...
First the Mushroom Rock which you can really only see coming the other way.
Then Surrender Hill, the old farmhouse (which was in much better shape than last time we saw it) and the mountain we used to run up and down.
The best was the discovery of De Lusthof Gastehuis right on the farm road - for next time??Read more
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- Day 8
- Monday, January 23, 2017 at 2:59 PM
- ☀️ 26 °C
- Altitude: 1,738 m
- South Africa Prynnsberg -28.90492, 27.6348228°54’18” S 27°38’5” E
Invaders of the Free State
January 23, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Everybody knows the Eastern and Southern Free State is grasslands, but obviously the first white settlers didn't like it so planted exotic trees. Here is a selection seen on our route.
Lombardy poplars; bluegums; something like tipuana at a bridge in Hobhouse; two different pine trees; weeping willow along all the water courses.Read more
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- Day 8
- Monday, January 23, 2017 at 6:51 PM
- 🌫 21 °C
- Altitude: 1,469 m
- South Africa Hobhouse -29.53019, 27.1404429°31’49” S 27°8’26” E
Hobhouse
January 23, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ 🌫 21 °C
So we left Golden Gate just after 8. Detour to Lusthof took about an hour. Then we stopped in Ficksburg to replenish food supplies - we are not sure when we'll be able to do it again 😊
The mountains gave way to flatter country and hectares and hectares of mealies as far as the eye could see.
We arrived at the Workshop in Hobhouse about 1pm. The altitude is a lot lower here so it is much warmer!
Hobhouse is a little Free State dorp exactly like Memel or Wakkerstroom, only we haven't seen a hotel here.
Some pictures of our little house (The Workshop), the view from our stoep and our walk around the block this afternoon.Read more
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- Day 9
- Tuesday, January 24, 2017 at 12:06 PM
- ⛅ 21 °C
- Altitude: 1,469 m
- South Africa Hobhouse -29.53015, 27.1404529°31’49” S 27°8’26” E
Hobhouse Day 1
January 24, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
When I woke this morning it was raining, and has continued to do so on and off all morning. So today was declared a day of rest and getting to sort Lesotho pictures.
We just had 'koffie' with our hosts, Cedric and Betty, and were given the history of their house and the beautiful old Victorian house next door (which has been sadly neglected and is now for sale).
Pictures of the rain, the Victorian house and our hosts' sitting room with lovely old heavy furniture 🌧🌧⛈Read more
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- Day 9
- Tuesday, January 24, 2017 at 3:00 PM
- ☁️ 19 °C
- Altitude: 1,469 m
- South Africa Hobhouse -29.53028, 27.1404629°31’49” S 27°8’26” E
Hobhouse Day 1 Cont.
January 24, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
So we made good progress with updating everything this morning but felt the need to get out and about this afternoon
So we drove through Hobhouse back towards Ladybrand as far as a rather nice dam near the township of Dipelaneng. Only it looked rather marshy with some folk fishing, so we skipped.
We drove towards Wepener (S) on the main road (R26) then came back into Hobhouse on de Wet St which is where the Workshop is. The main drag, Muller St, completes the triangle.
Hobhouse is a mixture of nice houses and abandoned, dilapidated, even gutted buildings.
Pictures: The purple house as you enter Hobhouse from Ladybrand, the river where we stopped on the way in on de Wet St, abandoned school sports fields and the Workshop itself; it was a real motor workshop which Cedric and Betty renovated to a coffee shop/dining room. Our little house is attached on the right.Read more
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- Day 10
- Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at 12:10 PM
- ⛅ 25 °C
- Altitude: 1,467 m
- South Africa Hobhouse -29.53027, 27.1403929°31’49” S 27°8’25” E
Hobhouse Day 2
January 25, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
This morning dawned overcast but cleared quite soon, so we thought it was safe to drive out and see the world. Started with a 'short' drive to a nearby dam on the old main road (!) to Wepener, only the dam was on a private farm so we had to turn around.
We tried another road which POps had sussed out as going towards Lesotho - we thought there might be good scenery. First part of the road was dreadful - muddy, potholed and very 4x4 but improved when we finally found the S612. (Coming back we did much better following the S612 back into Hobhouse.)
There was some good birding along here (prize was a goliath heron) but we turned around when the road became very wet and muddy past a farmhouse. (Huge trucks were using the road happily!) The farm dam yielded lots of nice water birds for our list...
Pictures: Muller St - the old main road out of Hobhouse; same spot looking back to the town: Bill the birder in the muddy road; the dam; derelict farm buildings (pig pens) outside Hobhouse.Read more
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