Having ticked off seven of Lesotho’s most magnificent passes, the intrepid explorers on the Mountain Kingdom Tour with Mountain Passes South Africa’s TRYGVE ROBERTS, soldier on from Thaba-Tseka to Thaba Bosiu.
Our route for the day was to be at a more leisurely pace than the previous two days and would take us from Thaba-Tseka to Thaba Bosiu via a range of interesting points of interest. We stopped in Lesotho’s university town, Roma, to refuel and took the tar road towards our first pass of the day – the Ngakana Pass. It was another picture-perfect day, and all was going well until the radio creaked to life. It was Iaan van Heerden in the VW Touareg warning Theo Hammond in the Ford Wildtrak that a liquid was running out of his vehicle at an alarming rate.
Philip Rawlins and Theo soon diagnosed the problem as a split in the radiator hose, but it was right at the rear of the engine and quite difficult to get to. The KFC brigade (those who want to offer assistance but don’t have a clue – me included) gathered around the hapless Wildtrak while the real mechanics got on with the job. They removed the clamp and split part of the pipe cutoff to reconnect to the engine before slowly refilling it with water… and around 40 minutes later, we were on our way again.
The day was a blur of lovely scenery and great blue-sky weather. We reached our overnight destination – the Thaba Bosiu Cultural Village – by 13:00 and checked into our chalets. This venue was the biggest surprise of the entire tour, and we will most certainly be spending an extra night here on next year’s tour. The grounds are secure and very well maintained. The buildings are all under thatch, and the centre has an open-air amphitheatre, a restaurant, museum and reception area – all located in a large semi-circle with the monument to King Moshoeshoe I, right at the top end under the mountain fortress named Thaba Bosiu. It is here where the great leader of the Lesotho people defeated his enemies, including the British.
After a leisurely lunch break at the Thaba Bosiu restaurant, we regrouped for the afternoon’s outing – a visit to the Kome Caves. The drive to the caves was quite rough and included a steep pass with hairpin bends and single-lane traffic. It took us over an hour to drive the 30km to Ha Kome. At that stage, the guests had no idea what the caves were all about, and there were some shocked looks and jaws dropping when the young local (and very nervous) guide dropped the bombshell about cannibalism that took place there in the early 1800’s.
These historically significant caves are a group of cave dwellings made out of mud in the district of Berea, 25km east of Teyateyaneng. The descendants of the original people who built the caves still inhabit them, and the site has been classified as a National Heritage Site. The Kome Cave dwellings were built and protected by Chief Teleka of the Basia Clan in the early 19th century. The primary purpose of the cave dwellings was to serve as a hideout from adversaries (aka cannibals) during the drought and famine in the late 18th century. The name Ha Kome comes from the Kome family in the Basia tribe, the first inhabitants of the caves.
As our group walked back along the steep granite rocks in near perfect, if not a tad too warm weather, representatives from ‘Go Lesotho’ were present to welcome us and wanted group photos. They were really chuffed at having such a big group of tourists from South Africa.
On our way back to Thaba Bosiu, we stopped at the Qiloane peak, which is said to have been the inspiration behind the Basotho straw hat shape, known as the Mokorotlo. We took many photos and lounged around enjoying the good weather before returning to our lodgings for a wonderful meal and a good night’s rest.
Thaba Bosiu to Malealea
At around 09:00 the following day, we left our comfortable accommodation at Thaba Bosiu Cultural Village behind with heavy hearts, heading southwest to Makhalanyane. Here, we intersected with the A3 for a brief stint of 5km, before taking the A5 to Roma where we refuelled again.
We drove the Ngakana Pass for a second time, vividly recalling Theo’s previous radiator hose drama with plenty of ragging over the radios. This time, it was a smooth run to Nyakosoba and then southwards to Ha Dinizulu, where we turned off the smooth tar onto gravel near the village of Tlalis. We drove deep into rural Lesotho through multiple villages where we were welcomed by school children singing, smiling and cheering us on – an extraordinary and uplifting moment. After passing through the last village, we began the traverse of the Botsoela Pass. It’s hard to describe the scenery as it’s just so awe-inspiring.
The going was dead slow (it took us around eight hours to complete the just over 100km on the day’s itinerary) as we slowly wound our way down to the Botsoela River, where we stopped the convoy for a break and for a walk along the river to see the twin waterfalls of Botsoela. Some of the ladies decided the weather was pleasant enough for a swim – apparently, it was ‘refreshing’… I’ll take their word for it!
We hadn’t seen another vehicle for most of the day since we left the tar. We felt like we had the whole of Lesotho to ourselves. The climb out of the Botsoela Pass was quite challenging and peppered with sharp hairpins as we regained all the lost altitude before tackling the final descent to the valley punctuated midpoint by the tranquil Malealea Lodge. We passed through a rural village called Mafeteng in perfect weather as we gradually descended to Malealea through acres of healthy-looking maize.
We had arrived early, so there was time for a walk to explore the grounds, which are full of tall trees, creating a shady and restful vibe. The accommodation was lovely and relatively inexpensive. As the tour was heading to an end, we treasured every moment and enjoyed a relaxed evening.
*In the final instalment of this incredible tour, Trygve discusses the leg running from Malealea to Matatiele via the Tsoelike River Pass. – Ed.
