Sehlabathebe Magic

[billy-joe]

loving this!  lesotho is spectacular.

 

[JonW]

After a bit of a break it was back on the bikes and a few more river crossings and before we knew it we were at the main road near the Chinese shop, where we stopped for a cold drink.

Unfortunately there was hardly anything for sale in the shop, and nothing to drink, so we headed for the shebeen where they had plenty of beer.

After this we rode about 20km North along the road to Thamatu Village where we were booked to stay at Thamatu lodge, where we have stayed a few times before.

However when we got there, the lodge was looking seriously run down and was deserted. It was clear no-one had stayed there for the past year due to Covid. Eventually some kids brought the keys to the lodge, but once we unlocked the place we found it hadn't been cleaned for ages and there was no water for washing or cooking and no gas for the stove or geysers. I decided we couldn't stay there so we got hold of Sehlabathebe Lodge and they told us we could come stay there, so we kitted up and rode back to Sehlabathebe Lodge where we booked into 2 very nice clean chalets, where we stayed for the next 2 nights.

 

[OomD]

If someone wants to know what "adventure" is, point them to this thread.  :thumleft: :thumleft:

 

[Sheepman]

Enjoying your report on a great ride  :thumleft:

 

[sidetrack]

Stunning could have been in the Scottish highlands !  :ricky:

 

[JonW]

The next morning we were up quite early, the plan was to do a track that Losper had given me that he said would take us the whole day.

The start of the route was rocky downhill narrow single track and i was wondering whether I was going to cope with this route, but i soon got into my stride and started enjoying it.

Unfortunately after a while the track led to a river crossing and after checking it out we realized the river was far too deep and wide to attempt a crossing, so we had to give up the idea of following Losper's route.

 

[JonW]

The beauty of Lesotho is that you don't really need a route to follow, you can just ride wherever your bike is able to go, and we ended up doing an awesome ride, up the side of steep grassy mountains and down rutted goat tracks to the valley below.

 

[mtr89]

Flip! What a hoot. Lesotho sure is a treat to ride in.

 

[JonW]

One of the paths we followed down the side of the mountain to the valley below.

rocky and steep with a big drop off on the right of the track.

 

[JonW]

I have to say that the 500's are the perfect bike for this type of riding. powerful enough to get you up the long steep hills, light enough to manhandle over rocks, and with enough legs to cruise comfortably at decent speeds on the open roads.

On this trip there wasn't one single issue with any of the bikes, we might just as well have left our toolkits at home.

 

[JonW]

Some pics stolen from Shaun, aka [member=2428]Bullet[/member]

 

[JonW]

After about four hours of incredible riding i was feeling pooped and pretty much ready to call it a day. But before I could tell the others my thoughts, Carel and Dawie had already plunged over the side of the cliff and were hurtling down a goat track to the valley a couple of hundred meters below. Shaun was still with me at the top and I told him I'm not going down there, I'm ready to head for home, I'll see him and the others back at the lodge. Shaun said no worries he'll come back with me. I'm not sure he really wanted to end the ride or not, but I appreciated having him stay with me.

We managed to find our way back to the road and headed back to the lodge at Sehlabathebe after signalling to the others down in the valley that we were going back.

 

[JonW]

Back in Sehlabathebe we found a trading store that we had never been to before, it was fully stocked so we bought cold drinks, beers and something for lunch.

I also made friends with one of the locals.

Back at the lodge Shaun made us lunch fit for a king.

The others arrived back about two hours later with stories of more valleys mountains and rivers.

 

[JonW]

Saturday morning we decided to leave quite early and head back to St Bernard's Peak on the most direct route, as Shaun and dawie had to get back to Pretoria and Carel had to get back all the way to Rustenburg before the Covid curfew.

Some pics taken on the route back overlooking Kzn from the top of the escarpment

 

[JonW]

Some more pics on the way back

 

[JonW]

A short ride later we were back at the border gate which led to the top of the pass

 

[JonW]

And then it was a nice easy ride down the pass and before we knew it we were back at the hotel, already planning our next trip to this amazing spot.

 

[Lem]

I am running out of superlatives  :eek7: :drif:

 

[Thump]

very Lekker JonW

 

[XTJoe]

Wow Lesotho is  beautiful , or this part of it at least