New Year at Katse Dam

[bmad]

Unfortunately not quite the DS trip (tar all the way) but it did involve DS bikes

A bunch of us spent the New Year weekend at Clarens in the Eastern Free State and on Saturday 30 Dec, took a ride to Katse Dam in the heart of Lesotho. Due to all the rain we have been having lately i was hoping to see the dam overflowing.

The bikes:
1 x R1150R - rider GSwannebe
1 x R1200GS adv - Brutus Maximus
1 x R1200GS - RTR and Mrs RTR
1 x R1150GS adv (a real bike) - Bmad and Mrs Bmad

From Clarens it is a nice scenic high speed road to Fouriesburg and then turn off to Caledonspoort border post. Nice quick border crossing and into Lesotho.
Rather amazing how the scenery, smell and atmosphere changes when you cross the border

We followed the road through to Buthe Buthe, then on to Leribe and then hit the Katse road. It's rather nice to come across a sign that says " Dangerous curves and inclines for the next 80Km"
This is where the Mafika Lisiu Pass starts.

Plenty of waterfalls along the route

The wife had the camera on the back and took some in motion pics:

Just outside of Ha Lejeone

First sighting of the dam

Crossing the Bridge

Finally arriving at the dam wall, this was the first peak

From the info centre

Unfortunately we missed the Tour by 30 minutes, but the overflowing view was worth the ride. Stark contrast to when i was there last month on our Off road adventure:

We headed to Katse Lodge for lunch when it began to rain. After lunch we headed for Clarens in the rain for about 100Kms.
Stopped on the way for some fuel:

Looked like some sort of chemical spill with the girls in their rainsuits:

Due to the weather, we never took any more pics for a while, but those passes were seriously tough in the rain, we were doing about 10Km/h going down.
At the bottom of the pass, it opened up and gave a chance to relax:

Headed home for a well deserved beer and a quick hike up the mountain to overlook Clarens.
RTR relaxing at the top

Total distance for the day 450kms.

On Sunday we took a drive out to Golden Gate and played around with mounting the camera on the bike at various angles. here are a couple of the resulting pics:
from the side of the bike:

From the top:

and finally...

who says that R1150R is not a DS bike :wink:

Not quite the off road adventure, but still an awesome ride 8)

 

[jacques]

As always a nice post, just enough to turn me some horrible green colour 8)

So when are we going? Huh Huh Huh?

 

[Kev]

WOW! THe colours in the last pic are really eye-catching! I also like the 3rd last pic... give me a sense of movement. Very nice! :thumbup:

 

[wino]

great pics there! tx for the report :wink:

 

[Ysterman]

Bliksem, I like this pic - just one problem, my ADV does not feature in it :!:
Looking at these, pity I didn't have one extra day to do a Katse route - so let?s plan that next ride out there

 

[Leo]

Thanks for sharing bmad.

Hell the place is green :wink: Bewtifull :wink:

 

[GIDEON]

Pragtig asemrowend mooi foto's

 

[Gunner]

Awesome report - to me that's what DS bikes are all about .... sometimes the dirt and sometimes the tar, whatever gets you where you are going.

Thanks

 

[Tonteldoos]

Did you experience any hostility on your way to the dam & back?

When we were there in Feb06 we ghastly experience with some kids wielding sticks at us in the road, only 2 or 3 incidents but still enough to make you wary of the locals.

Relating also some other reports you read from time about nasty experiences.. But then "Africa is not for sissies" as they say.

Will I go back Yes, but then ensure I am in a group of more than 2 bikes.

Like he say those mountain passes are stunning..

 

[bmad]

Tonteldoos, we did not experience any problems.
We also did a 3 day trip through Lesotho in November and the same thing, no problems with the locals.

I think that due to all the bad publicity Lesotho receives about stone throwing and stuff, that the tourism department is doing it's best to stop it.
My understanding is that the local chiefs have been requested to talk to their people and advise them of the dangers and consequences of their actions.

It appears to be working, but you will always get the bad apple here and there that still needs some form of entertainment

None the less, still a fantastic country for DS riding :wink:

 

[X Banana Boy]

Bliksem, I like this pic - just one problem, my ADV does not feature in it :!:
Looking at these, pity I didn't have one extra day to do a Katse route - so let?s plan that next ride out there

+1 hellava nice pic this. Stick in the pic of the month competition.

 

[Maverick (R.I.P.)]

Cool pics groot dam