Lesotho ROCKS !!!!!!!!

I have wanted to do Sani Pass ever since I got my KLR, but as my friend used to say: "Life is what happens when you're making other plans".
But just after the Bash, MM got tired of my nagging and said I better do it, and get it over with. So the planning started. I contacted the Lesotho guru, SGB, to hear what he could suggest. Thanx for the info, SGB and to the others that offered advice.

The plan we came up with was to sleep in Himeville on Thursday, do Sani Pass on Friday, Katse Dam on Saturday and the BIG one - Kao mines road on Sunday, and then back home on Monday.

So Thursday morning arrived, and I just finished some mods on Groenie, but I still had to work. I loaded, not packed, LOADED the bike in between finishing the last few pieces of work I had left and ten set off to meet up with D7.

Groenie fresh out the garage at KLR Central



Our first stop was just past Heidelberg to fuel up. Yes Zonk, we saw some serious snakes.



We decided to stick to around 5000 RPM for the tar sections to not strain the bikes too much. That gave us a cruising speed of 100-120. Top speed for the whole trip was 121 according to my gps. Going slow meant your ass would get the worst of it, so we stopped regularly.

Leaving GP behind



And check what awaits us !!!



Not long after we hit our first storm. This would be the last time I had dry boots. MX boots are great, but not built for touring in the rain.




This is also where I started playing with the camera and would eventually have to discard plenty of my pics.

My partner in crime



and our trusty steeds



Dave's favourite place for a beer and a smoke - Windy Corner in the Van Reenen's pass



The rest of the trip was WET and dark. As we left quite late and were traveling slow, drinking lots of beers wherever we got, the sun eventualy won the race and we were in the dark when we finaly reached our first section of gravel just outside Nottingham Road.



This part of the trip was .....erm....interesting. Riding dirt roads at night is difficult at best, in the rain it's more so, but on snot it gets quite scary. One thing a KLR can't brag about, is it's headlight. Now put all that together and you have the makings of an adventure.
During the ride I felt my bike wallowing/wobbling quite a bit and thought I must have a flat. I signalled D7 to stop so I can check it out. First thing he sez as we stop is: I think I have a puncture. But as I get off the bike, my foot just slips away from the bike and it nearly lands on it's side. MUD! All over the bloody raod. Only about 1-2 cm deep, but ALL over the road. If it wasn't for the D606's we have on, we would have been in deep kark. I love those tyres!!!!! More about them later.

Reaching the turn-off to Sani. Tomorrow morning we are going up there. Blurry pic.



Because of my fiddling with the camera, this happened quite lot.

We only reached Himeville at 22:00, just before they closed the bar. A room was booked and more beers ordered.

Friday's adventure will follow soon........ish.

Continued here

hurry up ,we are impatient  ;D

IceCreamMan said:

hurry up ,we are impatient  ;D

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Yes so am i ;D BUT I see they are now going over to the DARK side ;D this takes time man. Be patient ;D

Groenie said:

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Your drive way needs some weed killer.

You back a whole day and this is all you give us  >

Did you find Daggafontein?  :

Let this be an example for everyone!!!!
Arrived late last night, and already we have report........of sorts. ;D

Nice one Groenie.
Awaiting the rest.

Lekker ;D

Groenspan bo !!! 8)

SuperJuice said:

Did you find Daggafontein?  :

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Not quite. I must admit that pic does look suspicious

Day 2 dawned and D7 was already up and getting impatient I, on the other hand, take quite a bit longer to get going in the mornings.

The mountains we will soon be tackling



A few pics of the not-so-clean-anymore bikes.





We finished the last few left over beers for breakfast, packed the bikes and settled our account, scooted off to fill the bikes and came back to stock up on some more beer. I should have named this report - Lesotho Shabeen Run.



Now to get up Sani. The road going there is as beautiful as you can get. And it would only be getting better.



We also had the opportunity to take a pic of the mud that caused our troubles the previous night.



See how easy the knobbies go into it? Imagine riding on that at 80k/h at night.......

Almost there, move yer ass!



D7 enjoying a few water splashes.



Mountains everywhere you look. We would not see another piece of flat earth until the Freestate on Monday.



and streams everywhere.



Everybody that ever went up Sani has taken a pic at this spot, so did we..



But I love waterfalls, so I took plenty pics of them



and had a beer at most of them











even took one of the little fairy spring



But we still had a long way to go to get there...



So, saddle up and let's ride.

At some stage, the river decided to take to the road. Here's one for Trailrider - an uphill watercrossing!



It does get boring, all this beauty......NOT!



More boring ruggedness...





and more of the same....



and up and up you go, untill you get to the fairy spring. What a great spot to have a break!



Lesotho was still coming and this dude really got me wondering about what lay ahead. He walked up to us and just stood there, staring at us. It was sort of unsettling.



But we had a mission and nobody was going to stop us from spreading our wings. Here D7 practises his technique before taking the leap.



We were almost at the top, just one or two more beer breaks to go, so it was time to reflect on where we came from.

Looking down for a change







And suddenly there was no climbing to do anymore, we had reached Sani Top. By this time we were at our friendliest and the border guards just waved us through with a quick stamp in the passport. It was time for another beer, this time a big one.You can't carry quarts on the bike, only cans. If you look at the Sani border post on Google Earth, you'll see a caravan just outside the perimeter. Just across the road is a hut that sells ice cold beer for R7 a quart. We immediately availed us of their hospitality and started meeting the locals.



We came across a bunch of Beemers down in Himeville. They pulled out just as we were replenishing our liquid supplies. We told them to wait up top so we can have a beer or two, but they were gatvol of waiting for us and decided to go down before the rain got heavier.



Now I also have this pic in my collection! Another pic everybody who has ever been up.....blah blah blah......same old boring stuff all over again.



By this time, I had done more than enough riding for the day and decided to hang around in the bar while D7 went exploring.
Plenty more beers were consumed and my friend Albert and his mate Gert joined us for the night. He had heard about my Lesotho plans and decided to arrange his trip so we could meet at Sani. They had entered Lesotho from the south that morning and did some hard riding to meet us. We arranged a bed at the backpackers, had a great dinner and I was in bed by 9.
Sorry, but all pics taken on that night came out very blurry. Dang camera....

The last 2 pics of day 2.

The Backpackers



and D7's weapon of choice. Mighty handsome machine.




So what do I think of Sani?

Glad I did it, will do it again and still need to do it from the top down. Awesome riding through even more awesome terrain. The ride up is a reasonable test of your abilities and can be done by relatively inexperienced riders. Just relax, take it slow and appreciate the scenery.
No, they haven't tarred it yet and won't do for some time to come. Even if they do, there are sections which will prove impossible to tar.

Day 3 -  the start of my love-hate relationship with Lesotho - follows here.

Those snakes! those nasty snakes. they get you everytime 

Great Stuff!!
Now where is the rest.

Lestho has got plenty of snakes!!

CrazyPorra said:

Groenie said:

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Your drive way needs some weed killer.

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Weed Killer or get some WD's to piss on it after a night out. ;D

Jirre julle mense darem. Moan oor my gras op die driveway. Niemand comment eers oor hoe skoon my bike is nie........Ai ai ai

Groenie ek was in Lesotho betrokke by die beginstadium van die Lesotho highlands water project.

Net iets interesant vir die wat belangstel. Die hele drakensberg " maluti " is opgebou uit een lava laag op die ander en is plekke amper 1000 m diep vanaf die hoogste piekke.
Die lava het nie uit vulkane gekom nie maar uit barse " dyke " in die aardkors. As jy kan onthou hoe die watervalle gelyk het sal jy sien dit het uit verskillende lae bestaan.

Van die Dyke is vandag nog sigbaar as reguit mure wat bo die oppervlak uitstaan.

Het julle ook gesien hoe baie dagga tussen die rye mielies geplant word.

Lekker Groenes en D7, oo ! dis hoekom almal soontoe gaan vir die mielies  ;D

I sense a story building... welcome back...!

H2O said:

As jy kan onthou hoe die watervalle gelyk het sal jy sien dit het uit verskillende lae bestaan.

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Ja, ek het dit gesien. My broer was 'n geoloog of so iets. Hy het my jare terug vertel en gewys waarna om te kyk as jy wil weet hoe die rotse gevorm het. Ek het gedink dis vulkanies, juis oor die lae. Wat ook baie interessant was, is die klein wit klippies wat oral in rotse gesien kan word en ook oral op die draaie die wereld bietjie glad maak. Het 'n paar keer amper my gat gesien.

Ek het 'n stuk groen klip saam gebring wat ek naby Kaste opgetel het, juis sodat iemand my kan vertel wat dit is. iskien weet jy? Sal 'n foto neem gou.

H2O said:

Het julle ook gesien hoe baie dagga tussen die rye mielies geplant word.

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Nee! Ek het nie in die mielies gaan speel nie.

Die wit klippies is "amekdadels", wat eintlik gas blasies is wat vol water en mierale geword het en toe versteen het.
Nê H2O?

Ps: gee nuwe betekenis aan: Lestho ROCKS ;D