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Departure From: Ramsgate, KZN
Destination: Pretoria, Gauteng
Distance: 869km
Date & Time
2018-01-03 04h41
2018-01-03 17h58
Total: 13hrs
Weather:
Overcast and hot.
Passes Taken: Sani Pass, Kotisephola Pass (Lesotho), Tlaeng Pass (Lesotho), Moteng Pass (Lesotho). Lesotho roads provided a continuous pass from that time you enter until you exit Lesotho.
I had an early start as I expected slow progress through Lesotho.
I traveled through the rural farmlands in Natal for the first 30km before joining the tar road to Underberg.
As usual, when travelling through Underberg, I always try to stop at Lemon Tree for a snack. I enjoyed breakfast and met some bikers doing an early morning breakfast run from Port Shepstone. The breakfast was necessary to provide energy to travel the Sani Pass.
The Sani Pass appears to be in the same state when I did the trip 15 years ago. The road is poor with ruts, loose gravel, rocks and really tight bends. The pass is very steep as the hairpins bends are challenging with a couple of water crossings as well. This was a really enjoyable pass and tests your riding skills. Sani Pass is not as challenging as the Volunteer Pass near Rhodes in the Eastern Cape.
The following photo illustrates how steep the pass is with only one bend from the Land Rover below.
Finally at the top where the one can relax and enjoy the view.
And enjoy the cuisine in the highest pub in Africa.
Lesotho is a bikers dream and worth a visit. My previous trip was in my Land Rover and many roads were gravel. Now most of the roads are tarred and easy going.
The highest point on my trip was at 3221m near the Letseng Village not far from the Diamond Mine.
I stopped off as Afri Ski to enjoy a drink at the highest restaurant in Africa at 3010m.
I had plans to camp at Golden Gate. I had made good time and arrived at the Golden Gate turnoff at 15h00. Considering that the weather looked threatening, I did not wish to camp so I decided to head on to Pretoria.
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