This tour is available on request.
Day 1
Depart for
Sani Pass Hotel. On arrival at Sani Pass Hotel at around 14h00
we will check in and get comfortable.
Nestled in
the beautiful Mkhomazana valley at the foot of Sani Pass, Sani
Pass Hotel and Leisure Resort is famous for its warm
hospitality, breathtaking views of the Drakensberg, and personal
service
Sani Pass
Hotel offers a fantastic range of sporting facilities on its
800ha property. We have two full-size bowling greens that are
available for competition or just for a fun game. There is a
badminton court situated close to the pool. Two floodlit,
all-weather tennis courts, squash court- for a good workout-
volleyball courts and two outdoor pools adjacent to the outdoor
terrace where the whole family can enjoy a fun-filled day. For
the children, there is a gigantic play area with trampolines,
swings, slides and a paddling pool with fountain
Fly-fishermen can cast a line in the stocked dam or take on
the challenge of hooking a wild river Rainbow or Brown Trout.
Rods and tackle are available for hire.
Day 2
We start
our accent of Sani Pass early morning after breakfast for Sani
Top Chalets approximately 22 kilometer further.
We start
our assent up Sani Pass from an altitude of 1,500m to reach the
summit 14 kilometers further at an altitude of 2 874m,
the only road link between KwaZulu-Natal and the rugged Kingdom
of Lesotho. On reaching the summit we proceed through customs
and continue our journey to reach Sani Top Chalets some 500
meters further.
Just in
time for a beer in the highest pub in Southern Africa. The rest
of the afternoon can be spent on a short hike along the
escarpment with its breathtaking views.
The Pass
felt the wheels of a jeep for the first time in 1948 when
an intrepid ex-R.A.F. pilot, Godfrey Edmock, took over 12 hours
to get to the top. The pass follows the course of the upper
little Mkomazi River through exceptional mountain scenery to the
edge of the escarpment. Among the final zigzags you will get a
glance on a waterfall that doesn’t see any sun during winter,
and stays frozen from May to September.
In summer
waterfalls cascade and tumble into the river below. The green
slopes that sweep upward to the base of towering basalt cliffs
are dotted with the color of our great variety of flowers and
the roadside is lined with flowers. Our knowledgeable guides
will be on standby and assist you to identify this floral
wealth.
And if names like Ground Woodpecker, Orangebreasted Rockjumper,
Drakensberg Siskin, Gurney's Sugarbird, Bearded Vulture,
Mountain pipit, strike a response in you, then you will know
that this is an important site for avid birdwatchers.
Day 2
Early
morning departure after breakfast. Today we will visit the
world-renowned Katse dam. We will be following a route that will
be taking us through Mokhotlong, Tlokoeng, Malingoaneng, Seshote
before reaching Katse Dam.
The key to the Lesotho Highlands Water Project is the
breathtaking Katse Dam, which has recently (1997) been completed
in the Malibamatso Valley just below the Bokong River
confluence.
The Katse
Dam is a major international undertaking and is now the highest
dam in Africa with a height of 185m. The dam forms part of the
first phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) It
forms the main collecting storage in Lesotho from which all
transfers to South Africa will be made through approximately 80
km of concrete lined tunnels. The reservoir formed by the Katse
Dam is very narrow, winding and deep with a surface area at full
supply level of only 35.8 km2. The relatively small
surface area together with the low evaporation rate at the dam
result in very low evaporation losses from the reservoir water
surface - approximately 10% of the evaporation experienced at
Vaal Dam for the same storage.
The total
storage capacity is approximately 1520 million m3.
The Katse Dam is a double curvature concrete arch dam with a
crest length of 710m and contains 2.3 million m3 of
concrete. The catchment area of the dam is 1867 km2
and the natural Mean Annual Runoff (MAR) is approximately 560
million m3/a
On arrival we take
a short break and then go on an educational visit into the
actual dam wall. We spend the night at Katse dam
Day 3
After
breakfast we continue our journey to the South African Border
post at the Caledonspoort near Fouriesburg. En-route we will be
driving passed Lejone, the Pass of Guns and Oxbow Ski Lodge. The
lodge is reached via the glorious Moteng Pass, which tops out at
2800 meters and then descends to the lodge in a valley 8km from
the summit, on the banks of the Malibamatsoe River. Through some
of the
This route
covers some of the most breathtaking scenery in Southern Africa.
In this remote kingdom of Lesotho, it’s the PEOPLE who will
fascinate you. Blanketed horsemen ride across the plain as men
born to the saddle. This is a COUNTRY THAT TIME FORGOT
We exit
Lesotho at Caledonspoort and continue to Fouriesburg where we
will spend the last night of the short tour.
Day 4
Early
departure after breakfast for Durban through the Nationally
Acclaimed Golden Gate Resort and National Park. A massive layer
of sandstone, stretching from the summit of the Drakensberg
along the Eastern Free State Border with Lesotho, has been
fashioned by the elements through the ages into unique,
flat-topped formations. We travel through this unique and
exquisite landscape of steep cliffs, which glow with brilliant
reds, orange and golden yellows in the sunlight. The Golden Gate
Highlands National Park, proclaimed to conserve 4792ha of
remarkable land, features magnificent sandstone formations and
is home to many antelope and bird species.
Altitudes
in the park vary from 1892 meter to 2770 meter above sea level.
Lunch will
be enjoyed en-route back to Johannesburg.
Our tour
of the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho ends.
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