4x4 adventure with Jim, Dani and Jez

Well, we eventually arrived back in one piece... but that was far from certain at one or two stages!  Now to the beginning of the tale...

On Thursday we rose early to get Jeepy to the garage in Bloem, in preparation for the adventure which would take us over some of the worst roads in Lesotho.  We left Maseru at 5.30 am and got through the border in a flash... great.  The garage provided its usual excellent service and was a most pleasant experience.  Kit and I spent a day shopping in the malls which was actually quite enjoyable.  We got the car back and made it to Bloemfontein airport in time to see Jez coming through into the arrivals hall.  After a coffee and a quick chat, Jim and Dani arrived on another flight from Cape Town.  We then headed back to Maseru.  The border this time was far from pleasant, particularly as a new rule had been put into place requiring passengers to go into a separate queue!  The border was conquered nonetheless and we made our way for a curry.

Day 2 began early with preparations for the big trip ahead.  Jeepy was packed with provisions and clothing for 5 days and we headed out at 9 am.  The weather was overcast but dry.  The drive up the mountain road to Thaba Tseka was pretty.  We stopped for a picnic at a high mountain pass and sheltered from the wind behind the car.  The first challenge of our trip was that the only petrol station in town was shut.  It was a 2 hour drive in the wrong direction to the nearest alternative.  We had to rely on Jeepy’s fuel efficiency... a challenge.  Fortunately we had brought a Jerry can, so we headed off south onto what were new roads for Kit and I.  The road remained remarkably good up to the lodge at Mashai where we stopped for the night.  We were not sure what to expect but the lodge was a pleasant surprise.  The facilities were more than adequate and the setting beautiful.  We sat outside our rooms whilst enjoying goods from the lodge’s bar.  We were joined by a group of local children.  They were so fascinated to look at pictures we were taking of them.  There was a lot of giggling followed by some posing and play fighting for the camera.  Suddenly the children all ran off... an adult had appeared and looked somewhat displeased.  We cooked a curry, the second in two days and had a most enjoyable evening catching up and sharing.

The next day we awoke to clear blue skies which gave the group some added enthusiasm.  The route that day was to take us on some potentially treacherous roads and a notorious mountain pass.  The drive took us through some truly beautiful scenery.  The road was fine until Sehonghong when it took a bit of a nose dive, both in gradient and quality.  With Jeepy in 4WD Low, we crawled round some awkward bends and made it down to the river.  Our information suggested we might need to drive across river beds following a lucky navigator on foot.  Jez had already set himself up for the task.  He and I were somewhat disappointed to find a brand new bridge, others looked quite relieved!  The road then took us over Matebeng Pass, which although bumpy was easily navigated.  Over the pass we looked out over the eastern slopes of the Drakensberg range.  This is where we stopped for our next picnic. 

After lunch we followed the road down and into Sehlabathebe National Park.   The park felt very remote indeed, and the lodge was a 45 minute drive on rough roads into the park.  We were once again not too sure what to expect.  Despite the remoteness, we found the lodge to be very comfortable indeed.  There was no electricity, but there were gas powered fridges, lights and running hot water.  We settled in and headed for our first walk in the park.  A short hike from the lodge and we found ourselves crossing the South African border.  The border fence was down, so we stepped over it (hush hush) and clambered up some rocks to look down on a magnificent view of the valleys and plains of KwaZulu Natal beyond.  It did make me annoyed to think about all the fuss and hours we’ve spent queuing at the border crossing in Maseru and here we just walked over a broken fence without any issues.  I quickly put that thought to the back of my mind and enjoyed the vista.  We made our way back to the lodge to find that we had been joined by a small group some of whom worked for GTZ in Maseru.  We enjoyed a great braai and lovely evening chatting sat outside the lodge.

On the fourth day we rested Jeepy and instead took to horseback.  For some it was the first experience of riding, and went down very well.  We had a 3 hour trek through the park.  The highlight of the trip were the Tsoelikane Falls.  The lads got into swimming trunks and braved the chilly waters of the plunge pool at the base of the falls.  We took a loop back where we saw various wildlife (mainly birds) and some San rock paintings from the 16^th century.  We had lunch at the lodge before the boys decided to tackle a nearby peak, the highest of the “Three Bushmen” at 3026  metres.  It was a challenging hike and after nearly 2 hours of walking up very steep inclines I had to stop and turn back.  Jim and Jez soldiered on and made it to the top.  I struggled down the mountain on my own.  About half way down I noticed thick clouds come rolling over from the South African side.  I just managed to stay in front of them but I couldn’t see the peak anymore and neither could I see Jim and Jez.  I hoped they would be okay... they had the compass, the map and two good heads between them.  As I neared the lodge I could see Kit and Dani with their binoculars looking out for us.  I could only imagine that seeing me on my own would have heightened the anxiety.  Fortunately as I got back to the lodge gates I could just make out Jim and Jez appearing from the clouds.  We all breathed a sigh of relief.  Strangely, there was not a great deal of energy in the group that night, so we retired quite early!!

We had planned to get up for dawn on the 5^th day of our adventure.  Unfortunately the clouds that had come in the previous afternoon had yet to lift.  We were all disappointed to have to go back to bed and have a lie in until 7.30!!  We had a leisurely morning packing up and made our way out of the park and on to our next destination, Matatiele in South Africa.  The border crossing at Ramatseliso’s Gate was easy... not as easy as the park though.  We drove down, out of the clouds and into South Africa.  The change in the surroundings was very apparent.  The vegetation was lush, there was a lot more in the way of buildings and fewer wandering livestock.  There was a little anxiety about petrol, but we made it with a quarter of a tank to spare.  We had a quick look around town, filled up on essentials... crisps and beer, before we went to our B&B.  This was luxury... we had electricity and even a TV.  Jez had missed the Springboks v. England rugby match whilst we were cut off from the world.  He found a re-run at 10pm and was a happy man!  We decided to spend the afternoon in, playing cards and relaxing.  We ventured into town to find somewhere to eat.  It was a struggle, and we ended up in KFC!!  Jim had vowed never to eat at KFC again, but on this 4x4 adventure, rules had to be broken!  More cards followed dinner but to Jez’s horror, the TV room was locked when he went at 10pm.  It was another relatively early night then.

The final day of the trip was blessed by blue skies and sunshine again.  We had a lovely breakfast, packed the car and headed off on a long drive back to Maseru.  We drove through some very beautiful countryside west of Matatiele towards Ongeluks Nek border crossing.  The last part of the journey was through a park, but there wasn’t a great deal of wildlife.  We came to the control where we were met by a very diligent South African official.  She checked all our passports, made us all fill in forms, checked my driving licence and inspected Jeepy.  It was all done in great spirit though.  When she finished, she even offered for us to wash Jeepy with their water!  She did however warn us that the road ahead to the actual border was very bad.  She wasn’t joking... the “road” wound its way up the mountainside and into Lesotho.  As we came over the crest onto the plains of south eastern Lesotho one of the first things we saw was a herds boy and his sheep... we were very much back in Lesotho!  The road took us to the lake where we’d previously had a picnic with Dr Richard on our way to Qacha’s Nek on a previous trip.  That was before the rains.  Now it looked so much greener and there was a great deal of animal life in and around it.  It was a little too early for lunch after our cooked breakfast so we headed off further into the mountains. 
Spirits were running high as we drove on towards Mount Moorosi.  I had decided to take us on a new route, rather than the one we had taken in the winter.  It was very quiet with no traffic.  The children on the roadside looked on in more amazement than usual.  I put it down to the remoteness we found ourselves.  The road was bad, and with every 500 metres got worse.  There were numerous small landslides which made things quite tough.  We soldiered on despite this.  We then came onto a big challenge... there was a huge dip in the road, caused by water erosion.  We all got out to have a look, it seemed feasible, so I got back in and slowly and carefully let Jeepy creep down the track.  The car then slipped off the intended path and tilted extremely precariously.  There was a moment of extreme anguish all-round, but somehow Jeepy remained upright and I managed to guide her further down the road until she was level again.  There was a big sigh of relief.  The next challenge was a water feature on a hairpin bend.  This looked easy in comparison, so I just drove round the bend, through the water only to for Jeepy to hit rock at the bottom of the water.  She managed to crawl out of a big ditch that the water had hidden.  It seemed as though she had come out of this unscathed.  We all got back into the car and continued on through several hairpins.  There were some even more bewildered people looking on.  One stopped us and tried to explain something about a big rock further up ahead.  “Big rock”... would it be a match for Jeepy?!  Well it was!! We drove on round a further bend and were confronted by a big rock fall.  We got out to confirm that the road was indeed impassable.  This meant only one thing... we had to go back and practice more 4x4’ing.  There was a mixture of dread, anxiety and excitement in the car.  With great teamwork, effort and amazing engineering we made it back up the obstacles with far less risk than on the way down.  We were all learning... especially me!  It had now been 2 ½ hours since we had decided to postpone lunch and as the adrenaline levels settled, hunger appeared.  We stopped by a little stream and enjoyed our last picnic.  I also took the opportunity to investigate an ominous clunking noise that had appeared around Jeepy’s nearside front wheel.  Everything seemed in order but the noise was not right.  Jeepy would need a second trip to the garage in a week... but at least we were all still alive and could get home.  The afternoons drive back to Maseru was long but uneventful.  The road was even good enough for the odd nap.  When we got back, there was take away pizza, planning on the internet and some reviewing of photos.  Then 5 very exhausted but satisfied adventurers went to bed.

This morning I went back to work after saying my goodbyes.  Kit took Jim, Dani and Jez to the airport after breakfast and started on a week’s worth of handwash!  Only ten days now till the next adventure... Cape Town and the wedding!!!