A long and winding day – Mountain Kingdom Tour (part 2)

When planning the Mountain Kingdom Tour through Lesotho, TRYGVE ROBERTS expected that there would be a few delays due to unforeseen circumstances. A first day that took more than eight hours to complete may not have been one of those but, as always, Lesotho‘s beautiful scenery more than made up for it.

For the first leg of the tour, we travelled from Matatiele in the Eastern Cape to Butha Buthe in Lesotho. Thinking about it now, it probably was too much driving for one day and after several things setting us back at the start, we were under pressure to reach our overnight destination before dark.

With a big day ahead, we had the guests up early and ready to roll by 08:00. The one thing we have learned on our tours is that it is often challenging (sometimes even impossible) to make up time if delays occur… but we have also learned that we can be pretty resilient when we need to be!

Rolling with the punches

As always, we started the day with a radio check to ensure that we maintain effective communications. We had two vehicles with their own VHF radios, both of which were problematic. The frequency we always use was not audible on Murray Cubitt’s radio. It did not help to try other common frequencies as it led to other users not having audio. After much head scratching and experimentation, Murray agreed to drive ‘audio blind’. The other problem was static and interference on Philip’s radio when transmitting, which sounded like an engine suppression issue.

We eventually got going well after 08:30, heading east along the badly potholed R56 to Cedarville. We were about 2km out of Matatiele when Alan Butler’s voice squawked over the radio, informing us that his new Land Rover Defender’s brakes were giving him some issues. We have yet to determine what the vehicle’s electronics were up to, but after we had all deflated our tyres, all four of his indicated low-pressure warnings. After some analysis, Alan opted to drive on and see if things improved, which they did, and he went on to complete the entire tour without any further issues. This was good news, as you do not want to drive in Lesotho with suspect brakes!

Philip was in the lead and took us along a gravel road past vast wetlands, pointing out many birds as we slowly rumbled towards Swartberg Village, a small farming community near Underberg. We bypassed Underberg and continued to Himeville, where we made a ‘quick’ fuel stop for the vehicles with fuel ranges under 450km (essentially the trio of Suzuki Jimnys and the Toyota FJ Cruiser). That 15-minute stop stretched into 40 minutes, which meant we would have to make up time by slicing time off our planned stop at Sani Top. It’s certainly no joke keeping 30 people on time with the tour schedule!

KwaZulu-Natal looked glorious, draped in a lush green carpet of summer foliage and flowers, as we headed up the foothills of the Sani Pass to the South African border control point. Kudos to SAPS for excellent, friendly service, spotless grounds and clean ablution facilities. After we had all cleared customs, Philip collected our passports and went ahead of the group up the pass to the Lesotho border control to ensure a quick clearance for our group. That saved some time, but we were running two hours behind… How on earth would we make it up?

I briefly took the lead and guided the group up Sani Pass. It wasn’t challenging at all, provided one was in the right gear (second and third, low range), chose sensible driving lines and took the hairpins as wide as possible. I have driven Sani many times, and it never fails to impress and delight – those last eleven switchbacks in particular are something to experience… you have to allow a moment to savour the views once you have reached the top. Despite running late, we called a 30-minute break as guests enjoyed some refreshments at the Sani Mountain Lodge in the highest pub in Africa (2 876m above sea level).

There were more delays as drivers wanted to reinflate tyres for the all-tar leg to Butha Buthe. Philip was under pressure to ensure we would make it to our overnight spot by nightfall. That meant limiting photo and lunch stops and keeping the convoy on the move at a steady speed. Those are not ideal touring circumstances, but ensuring a safe event remains our priority.

Our first pass after entering Lesotho was the Black Mountain Pass (Kotisephola Pass). If you thought Sani Pass was the groot meneer you were mistaken. Here, we faced a pass of massive proportions, climbing at very steep gradients of 1:5 to summit at 3 244m above sea level. Many drivers experienced power loss in their vehicles. The three Jimnys had a tough time up there, as did we at the back of the convoy with our 4.5-litre Land Cruiser, having to resort to lots of second gear work. The pass is 32km long, and the ascent seems to go on forever!

Diamonds are forever

We made it over the summit and pulled off near the northern end onto an unused road construction area, which made for a great lunchtime break as it was perfectly level. Thunderclouds had been building since noon, with a threatening-looking sky to the north. We cut the lunch break down to 30 minutes and got the convoy heading towards Mokhotlong, which we bypassed en route to the massive Letseng Diamond Mine, where some of the world’s largest diamonds have been unearthed. The residual rock scree from the mine has transformed the once beautiful landscape. It brought back instant thoughts of the reef in Gauteng.

The mine is owned by Gem Diamonds Ltd. and the government of Lesotho, and at an elevation of 3 100m, it is the world’s highest diamond mine. It is characterised by extremely lowgrade ore, less than 2 carats (400mg) per hundred tons. It is known for yielding huge diamonds, boasting the highest percentage of large diamonds – greater than 10 carats (2.0g), giving it the highest dollar value per carat of any diamond mine. The world average is roughly US$81 per carat, while Letseng averaged over US$1 894 per carat for the first six months of 2007. The mine trucks are often called on to rescue vehicles that get stuck in the snow and ice on the nearby Tlaeeng Pass, which was where we were headed.

The final stretch

The pass has an oxygen-depleting altitude of 3 262m and is just under 10km long. We briefly stopped at the summit for some photos, tackling another three major passes before reaching Butha Buthe. Two of our convoy vehicles (Toyota Prados) experienced brakes overheating and we had to stop and wait for them to cool down. When descending these big passes, it is vital to use engine compression to slow your vehicle down, only resorting to occasional feathering of brakes as needed.

The last pass of this first day was the Moteng Pass, taking you right past Afriski, which was closed (with a notice that has been issued that it will not be opening at all during 2023). This exceptional pass is located between the town of Kala in the west and the Afriski Resort in the north in the northern quartile of Lesotho. It has a significant altitude gain of 896m that stretches over a distance of 15.3km, which converts into an average gradient of 1:17 – but don’t be fooled by that figure as it includes the descent. Most of the ascent from the western approach is between 1:5 and 1:8.

The 91 bends, corners and curves will require your full concentration. Amongst those, there are four extreme hairpin bends and one full horseshoe. The A1 road is the major route across the northern sector of Lesotho and, as such, carries a fair volume of traffic, including some very large trucks. These need the full width of the road to negotiate, so be aware of this as you proceed along this pass.

Upon finally reaching Butha Buthe after more than eight hours on the road, most vehicles went into town to refuel while others settled in at our guesthouse, Qhanolla. This modern facility is run by a local Mosotho gentleman, who welcomed us with a wide grin. He was hands-on, attentive and friendly as porters arranged to help with luggage. I always take note of how the owner/manager treats his staff, and in this case, it was with respect. I knew we were going to have an enjoyable stay… and boy – did we need that after a long first day!

*In part 3, we will cover the stretch from Butha Buthe to Katse Dam. – Ed.

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