east london to sani

[charlw]

pass between engobo and elliott
storm brewing at 9 in the morning!!
great breakfast at langhurst estate in elliott
fourth storm we evaded, this one between matatiele and underberg
back of himeville arms, good curry and cold beer!

 

[charlw]

unpacking the bikes at himeville arms
road to sane through himeville - filling up with petrol - none at sani top
road here is very good and scenery is awesome
without the filters
just before the SA border post

 

[Zonkelnut]

am i wrong or is everything in this pic either green or gray?

what am i missing. even their faces are grey 

 

[Thump]

what am i missing. even their faces are grey 

great breakfast at langhurst estate in elliott?? ot:

Awsome ride Charlw.  :ricky:
Keep em commin :deal:

 

[charlw]

langhurst estate is a b and b about 5 km outside elliott on the way to cala. run by gary andrews. brother of mark

 

[charlw]

foothills before the serious trek up the mt - how did the voortrekkers manage? must have smoked the mt cabbage and flown over
sa border post
trying out the filters on my computer - another one all grey and green - different
doug's turn to be green and grey
jonw and allen who posted a story about lesotho

 

[charlw]

majestic dragon mountains
view back towards himeville
this is where the k*k started - those switchbacks are steep and at altitude - engine looses power - feels like taking off in third gear - solution keep refs up and go flat out - not so easy with hairpins and loose rocks and steep drop offs - was a challenge!
doug at the top
me at the top

 

[charlw]

pat and johan at the deck at sani top chalets
on the road to mokhotlong - good road for this remote area
only petrol for miles at mokhotlong - once described as the most desolate and remote place in the British Empire
hotel at mokhotlong - was hot needed a drink
altitude here was over 3000 m  - the menoaneng pass at 3030m- all three hondas struggled with the thin air, the yamaha was fine with fuel injection - anyone got any tips how to deal with this problem?

 

[charlw]

had to race to beat another storm - broke as we stopped at katse dam - my butt was also broken after 10 hours on the bike but it was an awesome and enjoyable ride
katse lodge - surreal to find a place like this in the middle of nowhere - stayed the night - food, rooms excellent
the dam and the road coming up the valley - this is the first dam to be built - next one is going up at mokhotlong - maybe that is why there is talk of tarring the sani pass
mafika lisui pass - steeper than sani but tarred - an incredible ride - saw heaps of loose rock piled on cliffs above the road - looked extremely dangerous - potholes here are not round but angular from huge boulders smashing down onto the surface
stop at maseru sun for lunch

 

[charlw]

senqu river in lesotho known as the orange river in sa
putting on wet gear on road between mafeteng and mohales hoek - hotel at mohales hoek was very expensive and not that great so we headed for zastron
relaxing at the maluti hotel in zastron - friendly owner cold beer great food
maluti hotel R180 per night bed and breakfast
getting ready for the final day - decided to do tar to sterkspruit and then hit the gravel to lundin's nek

 

[charlw]

southern lesotho area near bebeza - you can see 2 bikes on the bridge
looking back at the tele river valley - beautiful valley and very remote!
amazing how this side of the river was xhosa and across the river was sotho
the road up towards lindeans nek

 

[charlw]

lindeans nek - were different spellings - anyway he was a swede who had a trading store in this area yonks ago
on the roof of africa
top of lideans nek
down towards rhodes/barkly east
near the railway switchbacks close to barkly east

 

[LeonDude]

Great photies and RR!

 

[JonW]

Hi Charl

Nice meeting you on Sani.

Looks like you guys had a great trip.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

Jon