Lesotho – adventure awaits in the Kingdom in the Sky
Uniformly mountainous, Lesotho is known for its breathtaking highland vistas. Golden sandstone cliffs, towering basaltic peaks and bizarre rock sculptures overlook undulating Afroalpine meadows swathed in clumped grass, tussocked heather and colourful spring wildflowers. Spectacular waterfalls plunge into gaping canyons snaked through by crystal-clear rivers. From Spring through to Autumn, days are bathed in sunshine and ideal for hiking and pony trekking, but the midwinter months of June to August often bring heavy snowfalls and sub-zero temperatures that transform the waterfalls into beautiful icy sculptures.

The mountains of Lesotho are a thrilling adventure playground for hikers, horse-riders, 4×4 enthusiasts and other outdoor lovers. For adrenaline junkies, activities include skiing, mountain biking, canoeing and the world’s highest commercial abseil. Slightly more sedately, there is excellent fly-fishing for trout in the highland streams, while birdwatchers and botanists can seek out a variety of specialised species whose range is limited to the high mountains of Lesotho and South Africa. Archaeological and historic highlights include dinosaur footprints dating back more than 200 million years, atmospheric rock overhangs adorned with mysterious centuries-old rock art, and a host of 19th-century landmarks associated with King Moshoeshoe I and various early missionaries.

Peaceful and culturally homogamous, Lesotho is home to the Basotho people, whose hereditary monarchy was established by King Moshoeshoe I in the early 19th century. It is predominantly rural, with an agricultural economy, very little industrialisation, and the freshest of fresh mountain air. Blanketed Sotho shepherds roam the countryside on foot or horseback, accompanied by flocks of sheep and Marino goats whose coats are used to produce the wool and mohair handicrafts for which Lesotho is famed. Traditional villages of stone-and-thatch huts host initiation ceremonies complete with dancing and ululating women, while elders in traditional thatched hats parade past on horseback. In Lesotho, such ancient traditions remain part of a living 21st-century culture that both enthrals and welcomes visitors.

Museums
Lesotho’s oldest and best-known museum is the Morija Museum and Archives (MMA), which stands in the historic town of Morija about an hour’s drive south of the capital Maseru. Established in 1956, the MMA hosts an impressive collection of ethnographic, geological and fossil material relating to Lesotho’s cultural and natural heritage, much of it collected by missionaries in the late 19th century. It also incorporates the kingdom’s most important historical archive. The Royal Archives, Museum and Information Resource Centre can be found in the royal capital Matsieng, only 7km from Morija.

The Masitise Cave House Museum near Quthing is converted from a three-room house built into a deep rock overhang in 1866 by the French missionary DF Ellenberger.

Food and Drink
The main culinary centre in Lesotho is the capital Maseru, which boasts a fair selection of a la carte restaurants serving one or other international cuisine, be it Italian, Portuguese, Chinese or Indians, along with several fast food franchises from neighbouring South Africa.

In most other towns and tourist hubs, the closest thing to fine dining tends to be hotel and guesthouse restaurants. Most of these include a buffet breakfast in the room price and offer guests an optional set menu or limited buffet in the evening. Some have an a la carte lunch and dinner menu.

In most towns you will also find a few a few small eateries that cater to a local market and serve a few simple but tasty and inexpensive meals, for instance beef stew or fried chicken with a staple starch, and salad or vegetables on the side.

The main staple in Lesotho, as in much of southern Africa, is a stiff heavy maize porridge known as mealiepap, papa or phuthu. It is usually accompanied by a meat, bean or vegetable-based stew, and locals tend to eat it by hand rather than using a knife or fork. Other staples commonly served in restaurants include rice, boiled potatoes and potato chips.

Borotho is a traditional type of bread cooked over a fire in a cast iron pot in rural areas. A doughnut-like treat is Makoenya, a ball of deep-fried sweetened dough sold fresh by street vendors on urban streets and in bus stations.

Beef and to a lesser extent lamb are the main types of red meat. Although it is not marketed as free range, meat in Lesotho often derives from relatively free-roaming local livestock. Chicken is also popular in Lesotho. A must-try local speciality is trout, which is farmed extensively in the highlands, and is usually served as a whole grilled fish.

Beer, wine, spirits and the usual brand-name soft drinks are readily available. The most popular brand of beer is Maluti, a light-tasting medium-alcohol lager that is brewed in the country and can be bought in a variety of cans and bottle. A good selection of South African beers is also sold in most bars, restaurants and liquor stores.

Adventurous drinkers might want to dry the local millet or sorghum beer. Brewed in villages throughout the country, it has an opaque appearance, a rather gritty texture and sour taste, and tends be low in alcohol compared to bottled beers. A good place to try it is Malealea Lodge, where community tours include a visit to a local brewer.

Lesotho is not a wine-producing country, but most restaurants and bars stock a good selection of well-priced bottled reds and whites imported from neighbouring South Africa.

Shopping
Lesotho boasts numerous cooperatives and other outlets where visitors can watch Basotho craftspeople at work and buy the quality basketwork, textiles and other handicrafts for which they are renowned. The national symbol of Lesotho is the mokorotlo straw hat. This tall tapering item of traditional headwear is made from moseea, an indigenous specie of robust thatching grass often seen from the roadside at higher altitudes. The distinctive shape of the mokorotlo is believed to mimic Mount Qiloane, a conical mountain whose outline is prominent from King Moshoeshoe I’s former capital at Thaba Bosiu.

The mokorotlo appears on the national flag of Lesotho, as well as on car license plates countrywide. Its iconic shape is the inspiration behind Maseru’s most famous landmark, the thatched Basotho Hat building, which happens to house the capital’s best-known craft shop, Lesotho Co-operative Handicrafts. This is a good place to buy your own mokorotlo, along with a range of other locally-made handicrafts and souvenirs.

Lesotho is famed for its hand-crafted wool and mohair products. These include blankets, scarves and ponchos – ideal for keeping out the chilly highland winter air – as well as shoulder bags, tapestries, cushion covers and the like. In Leribe, the Craft Centre is an outlet for a philanthropic Anglican Church project that provides employment to women in need and is the kingdom’s oldest and best source of products made with 100% mohair, a superior wool-like fabric made from the hair of Angora goats

Not far from Leribe, Teya-Teyaneng is the handicraft capital of Lesotho, housing as a pair of admirable women’s craft cooperatives that sell silk, wool and mohair products, including a delightfully distinctive Sotho range of cute woollen dolls.

Handicrafts aside, self-caterers will find that Maseru has a good range of supermarkets selling a varied selection of provisions. The choice is more limited outside the capital, but Shoprite, the country’s largest supermarket chain, has outlets in a few larger towns, including Hlotse, Mokhotlong, Mafeteng and Mohale’s Hoek.

Events
Throughout the year there are many unique festivals, exhibitions, challenges, races and other events held around Lesotho. So if you need an excuse to visit Lesotho, we have plenty to choose from.

Challengers and Races
With its challenging terrain and spectacular mountains, Lesotho lends itself to a wide range of physical challenges that have been drawing competitors and spectators to Lesotho for years. The Roof of Africa is considered to be one of the toughest off-road endurance events in the world, attracting the world’s best Xtreme Enduro competitors to take on the challenge on motorbikes and in cars. The Roof is considered to be the most important off-road event in southern Africa and highly capricious because of the altitude involved, throwing sun, rain and snow at the competitors.

Lesotho Sky is a mountain bike stage race over 400 kilometres in 6 days, where 100 riders in teams of two take on the altitude and mountains to make this the most spectacular mountain bike race in the southern hemisphere. Hosted by Maliba Lodge, the Lesotho Ultra Trail is the epitome of high altitude trail racing in Southern Africa. Held on the rugged mountain footpaths and ancient herder trails of the Ts’ehlanyane National Park, this 50 kilometre course has been effortlessly integrated into the surrounding landscape.

Festivals and Exhibitions
Traditional horse racing at Semonkong takes place across the year, although the main event of the year is in July to celebrate the King’s birthday. There are two categories of race, the 800m for foals and 1,600m for mature horses. Both competitors and spectators can bet on the races, adding an extra level of excitement! The Africa Beer Festival celebrates Lesotho’s great passion for beer and a love of celebrating life! A vast range of local, African and international beers are available, as well as wines, cocktails, spirits and ciders.

Lesotho offers a wide variety of natural and historic attractions to visitors. Hiker-friendly Bokong Nature Reserve is a high-altitude sanctuary best-known for the 60m-high Lepaqoa Falls, which often freeze in winter to form a column of ice. Ha Baroana is a 2,000-year-old rock art site dominated by polychrome depictions of elands and hunters. The unique Ha Kome Cave Dwelling consists of five inhabited adobe huts built in a deep natural overhang back in the 1820s. An engineering marvel, Katse Dam, the centerpiece of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, is overlooked by a lovely botanical garden that houses 500 plant species.

Lesotho’s largest natural freshwater body, the remote Lake Letsie is a scenic Alpine wetland that offers great birdwatching. The historic small town of Leribe is home to the highly regarded Leribe Craft Centre and the 200-million-year-old Subeng Dinosaur Footprints. Liphofung is a dramatic rock overhang known for its prehistoric rock art and historical association with King Moshoeshoe I.

Chilled out Malealea is a popular base for pony trekking, mountain biking and community-based tourist activities. The spectacular 192-metre Maletsunyane Waterfall is one of Africa’s tallest waterfalls and the site of the world’s longest commercial abseil. Mount Moorosi is the site of an important 19th century battlefield overlooking the Senqu (Orange) River. Quthing is known for its Dinosaur Footprints and the Masitise Cave House, a unique dwelling built by a French missionary in 1866. An excellent base for exploring western Lesotho, the capital Maseru is a low-rise city graced by the country’s best selection of hotels, restaurants and other such amenities.

An important component in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, Mohale Dam is reached by a dramatic 100km road that traverses three major mountain passes. One of Lesotho’s prettiest towns, Morija houses Lesotho’s first French Protestant mission, as well as the kingdom’s two oldest extant buildings, and the Morija Museum and Archives. The highest of Southern Africa’s only two ski resorts, Afriski operates offers skiing during midwinter (June to August) and activities such as mountain biking and hiking at other times. Roma, set below a striking sandstone escarpment, is home to the country’s oldest Catholic mission and the leafy campus of the National University of Lesotho. Perched at 2,874 metres, Sani Top offers wonderful hiking opportunities (including Thabana Ntlenyana, Southern Africa’s highest mountain) and is the setting for Africa’s highest pub. The remote Sehlabathebe National Park is a hiker-friendly UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its spectacular rock formations and abundant prehistoric rock art.

Teya-Teyaneng, the handicraft capital of Lesotho, houses a clutch of craft cooperatives aimed at the upliftment of local women. The historic heart of the Sotho Kingdom, Thaba Bosiu is a near-impregnable sandstone plateau that served as the military stronghold of King Moshoeshoe I. The superb but little-visited Tsatsane Bushman Paintings include a massive eland portrait and a detailed depiction of a San rainmaking ceremony. Ts’ehlanyane National Park is known for its rugged montane vistas, floral diversity and network of hiking and horseback trails emanating from the five-star Maliba Lodge.

Ha Baroana
One of the most impressive rock art sites in Lesotho, ancient Ha Baroana adorns a massive sandstone overhang flanking the Liphiring River near the village of Matela some 40km east of Maseru. Ha Baroana translates as Home of Bushman, and the rock art there, as with most other such sites in Lesotho, is attributed to the San or Bushmen hunter-gatherers who inhabited the region prior to the foundation of the Sotho Kingdom in the early 19th century.

As is so often the case in Southern Africa, the art at Ha Baroana is dominated by polychrome depictions of the eland, which is the world’s largest antelope, and was held sacred by the shamanic artists. Other figures include a herd of smaller, more streamlined antelope (most likely hartebeest or blesbok), a peculiar leopard-like predator, a circle of dancers, and an unusually well-preserved all-black hunter running with spear in hand.

Estimated to be up to 2,000 years old, the surviving paintings at Ha Baroana are now quite faded and spread patchily across the shelter’s tall decurved 70-metre long sandstone wall. Take your time, however, and it is surprising just how many different figures gradually reveal themselves as your eyes become accustomed to seeking them out amidst the rock’s natural colour variations and grains. Even so, the surviving rock art at Ha Baroana would represent a tiny fraction of the paintings that must once have adorned this vast this open-air gallery, and one can only imagine how impressive and beautiful the site must have been in its prehistoric prime.

The 15-minute walk from Ha Baroana’s modern Visitors’ Centre to the rock art site is a scenic delight, descending steeply into a gorgeous river valley and then crossing two footbridges before it emerges into the forested stretch of riverbank that shelters the paintings.

Ha Kome Cave Dwellings
The tall, deep rock overhangs that characterise the highlands of Lesotho have provided shelter to humans since time immemorial. In prehistoric times, these spacious natural refuges are where San (Bushman) families would huddle together around a fire to eat and exchange stories, while their shamans performed mysterious trance rituals and adorned the walls with colourful rock paintings. More recently, the caves of the highlands have offered sanctuary to many a blanketed Basotho shepherd and his livestock on a cold winter night.

The cave dwelling tradition of Lesotho reaches its modern apotheosis at Ha Kome, some 60km northeast of Maseru. Here, a cluster of five beautifully constructed igloo-like huts is set entirely within a deep natural overhang, their smooth and curvaceous adobe exteriors reminiscent more of the adobe architecture of Mali’s Bandiagara Escarpment than of anything else in you’ll see Southern Africa.

Still inhabited by a few fourth-generation descendants of its founders, the cave village at Ha Kome reputedly dates back to 1824, when it served as a hideout for Basia and Bataung clans from the Eastern Cape during the same Difaqane Wars that prompted King Moshoeshoe to retreat to the fortresslike heights of Thaba Bosiu.

A few vestigial pock paintings dating to an earlier San (Bushmen) occupation can also be seen in the cattle kraal at the far end of the overhang. The tall trees that shelter the entrance to this far side of the cave were reputedly planted as protection from lightning when the ancestors of the present-day inhabitants arrived there almost 200 years ago.

Katse Dam
One of the most ambitious engineering projects ever undertaken in South Africa, Katse is the continent’s second-largest double-curvature arch dam. Some 710-metres long and 185-metres high, it impounds a deep, squiggly, multi-tendrilled reservoir that extends back more than 30km along the Malibamat’so River when full and has a total surface area of 38.5 square kilometres.

Reputedly named after a wealthy local farmer, Katse was constructed in the early 1990s as the centrepiece of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP). Water from Katse is funnelled through an 82km underground tunnel into the Ash River near Clarens, South Africa, from where it flows along a succession of natural waterways into the Vaal Dam, the main reservoir in the industrialised and densely populated South African province of Gauteng.

Visitors coming on the A25 from Maseru will pass the tunnel’s intake tower to their left as they cross the reservoir on Mphorosane Bridge near Ha Lejone, some 30km before reaching the dam itself. Also visible from the bridge is a cluster of circular fish farms that produces the trout for which Lesotho is famed.

Informative guided tours of the dam wall and boat trips onto the reservoir can be arranged at the helpful LHWP Visitors’ Centre, which stands right above the dam and has an interior designed to mimic it.

A highlight of a visit to the dam is the Katse Botanical Garden, which was established in 1995 as a sanctuary for Afro-Alpine flora rescued from land soon to be submerged by the reservoir. Reputed to be the highest botanical garden in the southern hemisphere, the garden stands at an altitude of 2,230 metres adjacent to Katse village and it extends across 17 hectares of terraced slopes crisscrossed with well-maintained footpaths.

The garden protects more than 500 indigenous plant species, including various proteas, aloes, lilies and red-hot pokers, all adapted to with stand harsh winters that often bring heavy snowfall. The more interesting species are clearly labelled. Particularly prominent is the spectacular orange-flowered spiral aloe, which is the national flower of Lesotho, and totally unmistakable thanks to the neat spiral rosette formed by its whorl of fleshy grey-green leaves. Look out too for the pink-blooming Lesotho lily, the bizarre pineapple flower, and the snake aloe with its unique sinuous footlong inflorescence.

The garden has a lovely location and it is also a magnet for decorous birds such as the Cape and southern masked weavers whose neat oval nests adorn naturally-occurring stands of ouhout trees, and the brilliant iridescent malachite sunbirds that flit between flowers in search of fresh nectar.

Leribe
A green but busy little town, Leribe stands on the banks of the Hlotse River close to the South African border northeast of Maseru, and is the administrative centre of the district of that name.

Founded in 1876 by the British missionary John Widdicombe, Leribe was fortified four years later, during the so-called Gun War, when a group of Basotho chiefs rose up against the Cape colonial administration to reassert their right to bear arms. The quaint Major Bell’s Tower, a circular two-storey thatch-and-sandstone building on the main street through town, is a relic of this war. The nearby District Administration Office, a handsome sandstone building with a wide balcony and ornate tin roof, also dates to the late 19th century.

A well-known landmark, Leribe Craft Centre is the outlet for a philanthropic Anglican Church project that is widely regarded to produce the Lesotho’s finest mohair products. The centre has its roots in a program established in 1911 by the Sisters of the Holy Name to train young Basotho women to spin and weave mohair, a superior wool-like fabric made from the hair of Angora goats. The project now employs several physically disabled and deaf women to spin, weave and knit a varied selection of 100% mohair products including table mats, ponchos, shoulder bags, scarves, tapestries and cushion covers.

Situated close to the A1 about 4km north of Leribe, Subeng Dinosaur Footprints, embedded in a sandstone slab in a small stream, ranks among the most important sites of its type in the country. Discovered in 1955, Subeng incorporates the footprints of at least three and possibly as many as six different species of dinosaur, some with five toes on their feet, and others with three. Look carefully and you will also see fossilised worm trails and mud cracks on other slabs in the riverbed.

Malealea
Possibly the most popular travel destination in Lesotho, Malealea is a relaxed and peaceful village set at a relatively moderate altitude of 2,000 metres in the western highlands south of Maseru. Reached via the spectacular Gate to Paradise Pass, it is renowned as a base for pony trekking, but other attractions range from hiking and mountain biking to community tours and excursions to see ancient Bushman paintings.

In travel terms, Malealea is all but inseparable from the eco-friendly and community-orientated lodge with which it shares a name. Converted from a local trading post founded by a British settler in 1905, Malealea Lodge opened in its current guise back in 1986, and it has been owned and managed by the same hands-on family ever since. Today it runs almost entirely on solar power, and most excursions on offer are operated and guided by local villagers.

Malealea Lodge is best known for as a pony trekking centre. Excursions range from a three-hour sortie suited to beginner riders, through to a variety of multi-night treks through the breathtaking highlands that separate Malealea from Semonkong, 50km to the east. Overnight treks provide a fully immersive cultural experience, as trekkers get to sleep in traditional Basotho Huts or camp in remote highland villages, and have the opportunity to explore otherwise inaccessible waterfalls, natural rock pools, caves, Bushman painting sites and so on.

Bikers can explore the surrounding countryside on mountain bikes, which are hired out by the hours. The hiking opportunities are practically limitless, and also include visits to waterfalls, rock pools and rock art sites within day walking distance of the lodge.

Another popular activity at Malealea is a guided community tour taking in the small village museum, a visit to a local chief, a traditional sorghum-beer brewery, and an optional local-style lunch. In addition, one of two local bands – Malealea Band and Sotho Sound – performs traditional “family style” music on iconic homemade instruments on the garden every evening before dinner.

And if this all sounds a little exhausting to less active travellers, fret not – Malealea’s large leafy grounds and wide verandas are ideal for chilling out over a coffee or beer.

Maseru
Flanked by the Caledon River as it flows along the border with South Africa, Maseru is not only the capital of Lesotho, but also the kingdom’s largest city, and the main port of entry for those arriving by air or by road from the west. Relatively low-lying at around 1,600 metres above sea level, Maseru has a pleasant temperate climate, and it experiences less harsh winters than the majestic highlands to its east. The city’s seSotho name alludes to the red sandstone escarpments that dominate the surrounding countryside, as showcased in such evocatively shaped natural outcrops as the Lion’s Head and Lancer’s Gap, as well as Mount Qiloane, a striking conical protuberance that inspired the design of the traditional Basotho mokorotlo straw hat.

Maseru ranks among the older towns in the Southern African interior. It was founded by the British in 1869 as the administrative centre of what was then the newly acquired colony of Basutoland. Following the death of King Moshoeshoe I in 1870, Maseru quickly outgrew the old royal capital at nearby Thaba Bosiu to become the most important market town and business centre in the kingdom, a role it retains to this day.

The compact and manageable city centre, easily explored on foot, is studded with charming sandstone edifices dating from the earliest days. These include the former Resident Commissioner’s House, an imposing Roman Catholic Cathedral, a more modest disused Anglican church, and an adjacent cluster of buildings that now houses the Alliance Française and associated Ooh La La garden cafe.

Another famous central landmark is the thatch-roofed Mokorotlo Building, which is designed to resemble the traditional Basotho Hat for which it is named. This striking building now houses a craft shop showcasing the work of the highly regarded Lesotho Handicraft Cooperative.

An excellent selection of modern hotels and guesthouses, international restaurants, and well-equipped shopping malls make Maseru a useful base for exploring the many attractions that garnish the surrounding countryside. Popular day tripping destinations include King Moshoeshoe I’s 19th-century mountaintop capital at Thaba Bosiu, the compelling prehistoric rock art site of Ha Baroana, the unique Ha Kome Cave Dwellings, the handicraft cooperatives in Teya-Teyaneng, the Subeng Dinosaur Footprints near Leribe, and the historic mission towns of Morija and Roma.

Mohale Dam
The tallest rock-fill concrete-face dam anywhere in Africa, Mohale lies almost 100km east of Maseru along a dramatic road that traverses a sequence of three major mountain passes as it ascends into the majestic central highlands.

The 700-metre-long, 145-metre-high dam was built over 2002-4 to impound the Senqunyane River, an important tributary of the Senqu (Orange), below its confluence with the Likalaneng. Part of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, it was designed to divert water via a 32km-long subterranean tunnel to the more northeasterly Katse Dam, which in turn supplies water to Gauteng, the highly industrialised and densely populated South African province that incorporates Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Although it is of great interest to engineers, Mohale attracts more casual visitors for its lovely setting among steep-sided mountains and the opportunity to explore the reservoir’s multi-tendrilled upper reaches on motorboat excursions that also take in the dam wall and the entrance to the underground tunnel to Katse.

As much of an attraction as the dam itself, the asphalted A3 from Maseru ranks as one of the country’s most scenic roads. It traverses a series of majestic slopes swathed in tussocked heathers and mane-like tufts of moseea thatching grass as it switchbacks through a trio of evocatively named mountain passes: the 2,263-metre Bushman’s Pass, the 2,281 Molimo Nthuse (‘God Help Me’) Pass and the 2,633m Thaba Putsoa (‘Blue Mountain’) Pass.

Morija and Matsieng
Historic Morija, one of Lesotho’s oldest and prettiest towns, is nestled on well-wooded slopes overlooked by the spectacular sandstone escarpment of Mount Makhoarane, 45km south of Maseru.

Named after the Biblical Mount Moriah, Morija houses Lesotho’s first and oldest French Protestant mission, established in 1833 by Thomas Arbousset, Eugene Casalis and Constant Gosselin of the Paris Evangelical Mission Society (PEMS). The mission incorporates the kingdom’s two oldest standing buildings, both of which survived a destructive fire set during the First Basotho-Boer War of 1858. These are the modest stone-and-thatch house constructed by the Swiss missionary François Maeder in 1843, and the more imposing tall-spired redbrick Lesotho Evangelical Church constructed by the PEMS over 1847-57.

In the early colonial era, Morija was nicknamed Selibeng sa Thuto (Well-Spring of Learning), due to the important role it played in providing education to the Sotho elite. The town’s scholastic reputation was cemented in 1956, when the Morija Museum and Archives (MMA) was established to store and display various ethnographic, geological and fossil collections made by missionaries in the 19th century. Now housed in a conspicuous yellow building, the MMA also incorporates Lesotho’s most important historical archive, containing a wealth of documents and other material dating back to the 1860s, along with a book shop and a small terrace café.

Other important landmarks include a sandstone post office built in 1884 and the Morija Printing Press, which has occupied several different premises since it published the first edition of the pioneering Leselinyana la Lesotho (“Little Light of Lesotho”) newspaper back in 1863. Altogether more contemporary in feel, Morija Arts Centre is a rootsy cooperative whose members display their paintings, pottery, tapestries and other artworks in a funky arts and craft shop set in the old François Maeder House.

Matsieng, 7km to the east of Morija, has served as the home of the Sotho monarchy ever since Letsie I succeeded his father Moshoeshoe I as king in 1870. Now graced by a trio of modern country palaces built for Moshoeshoe II and Letsie III, Matsieng is also home to the Royal Archives, Museum and Information Resource Centre, which offers guided tours that include a short but bracing walk uphill to the ruins of the original stone palace built by Letsie I.

A popular walk short from Morija, usually taking around 30 minutes in either direction, leads to a fossil set of three-toed dinosaur footprints first discovered by missionaries in 1881. This intriguing site is known locally as Nonyana ea Makhoarane (Bird of Makhoarane) due to the footprints’ resemblance to giant avian tracks. The walk up the slopes of Mount Makhoarane can also be rewarding for living birds. Look out for bokmakierie, ground woodpecker and Cape rock thrush on the rocks, and various water-associated species on the small tree-fringed reservoir you pass en route.

Mount Moorosi
Straddling the A4 between Quthing and Qacha’s Nek, the sprawling small town of Mount Moorosi boasts a spectacular setting overlooking the Senqu (Orange) River at the base of a towering rocky pinnacle called Mokotjomela.

The town is named after a somewhat smaller mountain on the east side of the A4 some 2km to its north. This is where the Baphuthi chief Moorosi, a former ally of King Moshoeshoe I, constructed the fortified mountaintop bolthole to where he and at least 1,500 followers retreated in March 1879 following a dispute with the Cape Government over the payment of hut taxes. Following an eight-month siege, Moorosi Mountain was finally captured in November 1879 by the Cape Mounted Yeomanry, who bombarded the fortress for four days before storming the summit. Moorosi was killed together with all of his wives, all but one of his children, and at least 200 followers. The chief’s decapitated head was then boiled and stripped to the bone before being left on display as a cruel warning to other potential dissenters against British rule.

One of the most important battlefields in Lesotho, Moorosi Mountain is quite easily reached on foot from the main road and you can still see a few stone slabs where the British soldiers engraved their names. A prominent memorial to 40 British soldiers killed in battle stands opposite Mount Moorosi Chalets some 6km out of town alongside the road to Lake Letsie.

Another prominent relict of British military presence in this most southerly part of Lesotho is Fort Hartley, a solid sandstone construction that dates to 1900 and has a superb location overlooking the Senqu River 25km back along the A4 to Quthing.

Oxbow
Climbing into the rugged high Maluti close to the border with South Africa, the recently surfaced stretch of the A1 nicknamed the ‘Roof of Africa’ is one of the few places in the region to receive regular winter snowfalls. It also houses the highest of Southern Africa’s only two ski resorts.

The highest surfaced road in southern Africa peaks at a breathtaking 3,222m at Mahlasela Pass, almost 100km east of Leribe and a similar distance north of Mokhotlong. It is a bleakly beautiful area of treeless Afroalpine moorland where windswept tussocks of heather are interspersed with ancient boulders and traversed by blanketed Sotho herders huddled on the back of Basotho ponies.

Perched at an altitude of 3,050 metres on the eastern descent from Mahlasela Pass, Afriski Mountain Resort is one of only two ski destinations in the whole of sub-equatorial Africa.

Afriski operates as a ski resort only during the midwinter months of June to August, when it attracts a steady stream of devoted and aspirant skiers from Johannesburg, only a half-day drive to the north. The resort accommodates up to 250 people and comprises one full kilometre-long ski slope as well as a beginner’s slope, along with two ski lifts.

Outside of ski season, Afriski offers a varied selection of other adventure and outdoor activities. These include mountain biking, 4×4 trails, hiking, paintball, and high-altitude training camps for runners, cyclists and other athletes.

For those who are not interested in skiing, but just want to experience the winter snow, a great alternative to Afriski is Oxbow, where the relaxed New Oxbow Lodge stands on a pretty montane riverbank some 15km back towards Hlotse.

Quthing
Administrative capital of Lesotho’s southernmost district, Quthing is relatively large hillside settlement split between a bustling commercial lower town and more sedate and green residential upper town. Also known as Moyeni (‘Place of Wind’), it was established in 1877 on the south bank of the Silver Spruit shortly before its confluence with the Senqu (Orange) River as it flows towards the border with South Africa.

The town’s main tourist attraction is the Quthing Dinosaur Footprints, which are clearly signposted about 1km along the A4 northeast to Mount Moorosi. Protected in a simple shelter, the site comprises a 200-million-year-old sandstone slab indented with several series of tracks attributed to a bipedal two-metre-long ornithischian dinosaur known as Lesothosauraus, which had three toes on each foot and an omnivorous diet.

The intriguing Masitise Cave House, built in 1866 by the French missionary DF Ellenberger, is a three-room brick-front home built into a deep overhang below an aloe-studded rock outcrop five kilometres west of Quthing. Now a museum, it includes some interesting displays on San rock art and the early days of Quthing and the mission, which is still operational today. Other features of the cave house include a freshwater pool fed by a natural spring, a 200-million-year-old negative dinosaur footprint in the ceiling, and the carved rock bench where Ellenberger held a historic meeting with Governor Philip Wodehouse of the Cape Colony in 1869, one that helped persuade the latter to treat the Quthing area as part of protectorate that eventually become Lesotho. The spring water from the cave feeds an extensive hillside forest of indigenous trees supplemented by a few exotics reputedly planted by Ellenberger. Birdlife is plentiful.

Quthing is the closest large town to Mount Moorosi, which lies 40km to the northeast along a scenic stretch of the A4 that offers some grandstand views over the spectacular Senqu River Gorge, and it is also a viable base for a day trip to beautiful Lake Letsie and the superb Tsatsane Valley Bushman Paintings.

Roma
Set in a fertile valley hemmed in by tall sandstone cliffs, the relatively large town of Roma is, as its name suggests, the site of the country’s oldest Catholic mission, founded by Father Joseph Gérard in 1862.

Situated on the southern outskirts of town, the Roma Mission is dominated by a massive sandstone church that dates to the late 19th century. The church incorporates the tomb of Father Joseph Gérard, who served at Roma until his death in 1914, and also of Archbishop Emmanuel Mabathoana, a great-grandson of Moshoeshoe I who was consecrated as the first Archbishop of Maseru and Metropolitan of Basutoland in 1961.

Roma is an important centre of learning. The town centre is dominated by the leafy campus of the National University of Lesotho, which started life in 1945 as a Catholic University College, was secularised in 1965, and has since grown to become the kingdom’s premier institute of higher education. Roma is also home to two highly regarded gender-segregated Catholic schools, the male-only Christ the King High and its female counterpart Saint Mary’s High, and the Roma College of Nursing, which offers diplomas in nursing and midwifery.

The local focal point of tourist activity in Roma is Roma Trading Post, which started life in 1903 as a small shop founded by John Thorn and is still in the same family more than a century later. In addition to offering accommodation and restaurant facilities, Roma Trading Point can arrange a variety of guided or self-guided pony treks, hikes and mountain bike excursions into the surrounding hills.

Sani Top
Situated at the 2,874-metre summit of southern Africa’s most famous and challenging road pass, Sani Top makes a fabulous introduction to Lesotho. Here you’ll find thrilling mountain scenery, wonderful hiking opportunities, down-to-earth cultural tours and world-class birding complemented by log fires, tasty glühwein and hearty home-style cooking at Africa’s highest pub.

Climbing from the South African town of Underberg, unsurfaced Sani Pass has long been fetished by South African 4×4 enthusiasts, and it gained more recent international exposure in an episode of Top Gear shot in South Africa and Lesotho. It’s a truly spine-tingling ascent, navigating a seemingly endless succession of switchbacks that pass through increasingly beautiful scenery as the road gains altitude. It is incredible to think that this rough and rocky road is the only motorable pass to breach the otherwise impregnable 200km-long uKhahlamba-Drakensberg escarpment that forms the border between Lesotho and KwaZulu-Natal.

Once at the summit, Sani Top boasts a bleakly beautiful Afroalpine setting and sensational views back over burnished cliffs and multiple switchbacks to the distant Drakensberg foothills. Popular attractions with day trippers are an informative cultural tour to a traditional village of stone-and-thatch Basotho huts 6km along the road to Mokhotlong, and a hearty lunch with a view at Sani Mountain Lodge, which houses the highest pub in Africa.

For overnight visitors, two of the many possible hikes out of Sani Top stand out. Peak-baggers tend to opt for the nine-hour round hike or horseback trip to Thabana Ntlenyana (literally ‘Beautiful little mountain’), whose 3,482-metre summit is not merely the tallest peak in Lesotho, but the highest point anywhere in Africa south of Kilimanjaro. An equally beautiful but less demanding four- to five-hour round hike leads to Hodgson’s Peaks, a formation that tops the 3,200-metre contour and is notable for a very photogenic rock window.

Roberts Bird Guide, the ‘bible’ for local birdwatchers, rates the cross-border site comprising Sani Pass and Sani Top to be ‘one of the top ten birding spots in southern Africa’. Afroalpine specials readily seen in and around the summit include southern bald ibis, Drakensberg rockjumper, sickle-winged chat, sentinel rock-thrush and Drakensberg siskin, while malachite sunbird flit decorously between the flowering red-hotel pokers that brighten the grounds of Sani Mountain Lodge. Look out, too, for Sloggett’s ice rat, a large endemic burrowing rodent with the endearing squirrel-like habit of sitting upright and raising its forelimbs to its mouth.

Traditionally, Sani Top tends to be viewed as an end-of-the-road destination offering day visitors from KwaZulu-Natal a short sweet taster of what Lesotho has to offer. However, the recent surfacing of the once infamous road that connects it to Mokhotlong and Maseru means that Sani Top now also forms an excellent gateway to the rest of this magical mountain kingdom.

Semonkong
Situated in the Thaba Putsoa (‘Blue Mountains’) about 115km southeast of Maseru, Semonkong (‘Place of Smoke’) is a small highland town whose name alludes to the spectacular cloud of spray thrown up by the nearby Maletsunyane Waterfall when it’s in full flow.

Possibly the single best-known natural feature in Lesotho, Maletsunyane is one of Africa’s tallest single-drop waterfalls, plummeting a full 192 metres over a sheer basaltic ledge into a narrow gorge hemmed in by steep green slopes and sandstone cliffs. In addition to throwing up a dramatic misty plume during the height of the rainy season, the plunging water creates a loud reverberation claimed by local legend to be the wailing cry of the souls of those who have drowned there.

Tourist activity around Thaba Putsoa centres on Semonkong Lodge, which boasts an attractive rural location on the leafy banks of the Maletsunyane River within easy walking distance of the main viewpoint over the waterfall. The surrounding area offers some great hiking and pony trekking opportunities, most notably the steep footpath that leads to the base of the gorge below the falls.

Semonkong Lodge operates the world’s longest commercial single-drop abseil, a thrilling 204-metre descent alongside Maletsunyane Falls, offering sensational views through the spray over the gorge below. Though not an activity for the faint of heart, no experience is required as advance training is given to all abseilers on a smaller cliff close to the lodge.

More sedately, the Maletsunyane River also offers some superb fly-fishing opportunities. The stretch above the falls was stocked with brown trout in the 1950s and specimens weighing 5kg are regularly snagged. Below the waterfall, the stretch of river above its confluence with the Senqu (Orange) also contains brown trout along with trophy-sized rainbow trout and yellow fish.

Teya-Teyaneng
Founded in 1886 by King Moshoeshoe I’s son Chief Gabasheane Masupha, Teya-Teyaneng is a bustling market town flanked by a pair of sandy shapeshifting tributaries of the Caledon alluded to in its tongue-twisting name (literally ‘Place of Moving Sand’, and often abbreviated to TY).

Locally, Teya-Teyaneng is probably best known as the sporting powerhouse that spawned Lioli Football Club, a four-time winner of the Lesotho Premier League since 2009, and as the birthplace of former Prime Minister Dr. Ntsu Mokhehle. For tourists, Teya-Teyaneng is renowned as the handicraft capital of Lesotho, housing as it does a clutch of excellent craft cooperatives aimed at the upliftment of local women.

Coming from Maseru, the first cooperative you’ll encounter, set in rolling fields below a golden sandstone escarpment, is Lesotho Mountain Crafts, whose motto Hatooa Mose Mosali loosely translates as ‘Women Step Up and Work Hard’. Lesotho Mountain Crafts specialises in wool and mohair products such as ponchos, scarves, balaclavas, tapestries. It also produces a distinctively Sotho range of cute small dolls depicted carrying babies on their backs or baskets on their heads.

North of the town centre, Elelloang Basali (Be Aware of the Women) is another neat little corporative whose members produce an imaginative selection of well-crafted mohair tapestries as well as a variety of silk products. Elelloang Basali is set in an architecturally intriguing building made almost entirely from recycled soft drink and beer cans, painted red for cohesion on the outside, but with original labels clearly visible from inside the building.

Thaba-Bosiu
Thaba Bosiu lies at the historic and spiritual heart of the Sotho Kingdom. Rising to an altitude of 1,800m only 20km east of Maseru, this near-impregnable sandstone plateau served as the residence and military stronghold of Moshoeshoe I, the kingdom’s founding father, throughout most of his mid-19th century reign.

Oral tradition has it that Thaba Bosiu – literally ‘Mountain of Night’ – was so named by Moshoeshoe because he and his followers, who arrived there in the chilly midwinter of 1824, made the initial ascent to the plateau after dark. The name also alludes to the belief that the mountain grows taller at night, a legend propagated by Moshoeshoe to discourage his enemies from attempting a nocturnal siege.

Thaba Bosiu is rather low-lying by Lesotho’s lofty standards, but Moshoeshoe, who arrived there in the midst of the Difaqane Wars initiated by King Shaka of the Zulus, was quick to recognise its strengths as a natural fortress. The expansive flat-topped summit is protected on all sides by formidable sandstone cliffs, yet it is watered by half a dozen natural springs and was large enough to hold plenty of livestock and other provisions during an extended siege. As a result, though Thaba Bosiu was attacked on several occasions in the mid-19th century, by both African and European foes, it was never captured and would be abandoned in favour of Maseru only after Moshoeshoe’s death of natural causes in 1870.

Thaba Bosiu is steeped in history. From the Visitor’s Centre at the mountain’s base, a steep and gravelly footpath follows Khebelu Pass to the plateau, passing en route a plaque marking the spot where the Boer leader Louw Wepener (the only invader to ever get close to the summit) was shot dead by Moshoeshoe’s men on 18 August 1865.

On the plateau itself, Moshoeshoe’s partially restored royal compound comprises five rectangular and circular stone buildings constructed by a Scottish soldier called David Webber who took refuge there in 1839. A short distance away, the tomb of Moshoeshoe I is the centrepiece of a royal cemetery where all his successors, from King Letsie I (died 1891) to King Moshoeshoe II (died 1996) are buried along with various other Sotho royals and dignitaries.

The plateau also offers superb views in all directions, the most conspicuous landmark from the summit being Mount Qiloane, a conical sandstone pillar that stands about 1km to the east and whose distinctive shape reputedly inspired the design of the traditional Basotho mokorotlo straw hat.

Adjacent to the Visitor’s Centre at the mountain’s base, Thaba Bosiu Cultural Village is an architecturally innovative complex that provides a modern spin on traditional Sotho stone-and-thatch building techniques. In addition to a hotel and restaurant, it incorporates a replica Sotho village of traditional homesteads, and an informative museum dedicated to Moshoeshoe I and various aspects of traditional Sotho culture.

Tsatsane Bushman Paintings
Tucked away in the remote southeast of Lesotho, the scenic valleys carved by the Tsatsane and Sebapala rivers host some of the finest prehistoric rock art anywhere in Southern Africa. Other attractions include trout fishing and cliffside nesting colonies of Cape and beaded vulture.

The first rock art site you reach coming from Mount Moorosi is Ha Liphapang, where you are required to check in at the Tsatsane Valley community project office. The site here is easily reached on foot, though the crossing of the Sebapala River is potentially tricky when the water is high. Considered to be relatively modern (late 19th century), the fresco here incorporates a number of mysterious half-human, half-animal figures known as therianthropes, notably one large white figure with a rhebok-like head and small black horns.

The next site Motse Mocha is also easily accessed on foot, though again the river crossing could be problematic when it floods. This site is notable for incorporating several equine figures whose narrow striping and white belly clearly depict a Cape mountain zebra, suggesting either that the range of this localised species once extended far deeper into the eastern interior of Southern Africa than historical records indicate, or else that the artist hailed from further southwest.

About an hour’s walk or pony ride past Motse Mocha, passing the confluence of the Sebapala and tributary Tsatsane River, the remote village of Sekonyela stands opposite an outcrop containing two utterly superb rock art sites.

Sekonyela 2 is possibly the most mind-boggling site of its type anywhere in Lesotho, containing hundreds of individual figures, most in a fair to good state of preservation. The centrepiece, a portrait of an eland measuring more than two metres long and one metre high, is the largest known depiction of this antelope, which was held sacred by the Bushman artists. Other striking images depict a traditional healer laying hands on a patient, a party of travellers carrying luggage on their heads, and a menagerie that includes what appear to be an aardvark, a hyena, and a young cheetah.

Action-packed Sekonyela 1 comprises a single fresco of around 50 humans and therianthropes hunting, fighting and dancing around what could be a buffalo bull, or a hippo, or a mythic creature containing elements of both. It is the most detailed and well-preserved surviving depiction of a type of rainmaking ceremony described to anthropologists in the late 19th century by one of the region’s last living Bushmen.

Two important vulture colonies can be found in the vicinity of the Tsatsane Valley. Selomong, a massive sandstone outcrop overlooking the road from Mount Moorosi, hosts at least 20 breeding pairs of the endangered Cape vulture. A more remote breeding colony, some six hours walk upriver from Motse Mocha, also hosts several pairs of the very rare bearded vulture.

Lesotho’s most ancient cultural heritage is preserved in the atmospheric rock overhangs that characterise the kingdom’s highlands.

In prehistoric times, these basalt-capped shelters provided refuge to San (Bushman) hunter-gatherers, who adorned the sandstone walls with rock paintings depicting their mysterious shamanic trance rituals.

Mostly between 200 and 1,000 years old, the polychrome rock paintings of Lesotho were created using natural pigments such as ochre, clay, charcoal and manganese oxide. The most complex panels comprise dozens of individual portraits of humans and therianthropes (human-like figures with some animal features), as well as eland and other wildlife.

Some of Southern Africa’s finest rock art can be found in the remote caves of Tsatsane Valley and Sehlabathebe National Park. More accessible sites from Maseru include Ha Baroana and Liphofung, and there is also rock art within walking distance of Malealea Lodge.

In more recent times, the caves of the highlands have offered sanctuary to many a blanketed Basotho shepherd and his livestock on a cold winter night. This cave-dwelling tradition still lives on at Ha Kome, where a deep overhang houses a cluster of adobe houses whose curvaceous exteriors recall the adobe architecture of Mali’s Bandiagara Escarpment.

Another important cultural site in Lesotho is Thaba Bosiu, a tall sandstone plateau that served as the residence and military stronghold of King Moshoeshoe I from 1824 until his death in 1870. Still revered by the Basotho today, the summit of Thaba Bosiu hosts the cemetery where Moshoeshoe and all successive Sotho monarchs are buried.

Historic Morija is the site of the Lesotho’s most important museum and archive, established in 1956 to house various collections made in the late 19th century. Morija is home to the kingdom’s two oldest standing buildings, both of which date to the 1840s, as well as a vibrant contemporary arts cooperative, and the press that published the country’s first newspaper back in 1863. Matsieng, only 7km to the east of Morija, has served as the home of the Sotho monarchy since Moshoeshoe’s death in 1870.

Outdoor adventure is what Lesotho is all about. With its unfenced highland vistas, unpolluted mountain air and predominantly rural population, the remote and mountainous “Switzerland of Africa” is an ideal holiday destination for active travellers seeking respite from the urbanisation, 24-hour connectedness and other trappings of modern civilisation.

Key to Lesotho’s outdoor appeal is an organic network of bridle paths that crisscross the kingdom, passing through undulating green meadows scattered with colourful wildflowers, climbing uphill between towering sandstone escarpments to lofty basaltic plateaux, or winding down into verdant gorges carved by babbling mountain streams.

Created by generations of Sotho shepherds and horseman as they travelled between village and grazing pasture, these ancient bridle paths provide visitors with innumerable opportunities for hiking and trekking, trail running and horse and pony trekking through the breathtaking mountain scenery typical of Lesotho.

The sparkling mountain streams and rivers of Lesotho are ideal for fly-fishing for trout and yellowfish.

Birdwatchers can look forward to a checklist of more than 350 species, including a wealth of localised regional endemics and other highland specials.

The rocky escarpments that scar the highlands are tailor-made for climbing and abseiling, or as launching points for paragliders and hang gliders.

For 4×4 enthusiasts, it’s possible to divert from the asphalt to explore some seriously challenging unsurfaced roads, among them the spectacular Sani Pass and Matabeng Pass, as well as he more extreme Tlaeeng Pass, which ranks as the highest road in subequatorial Africa, summiting at 3,275 metres.

Less expectedly perhaps, Lesotho is one of Africa’s highest countries, and far enough from the equator that it hosts one of the region’s only two skiing and snowboarding destinations in the form of Afriski Mountain Resort, whose ski slopes operate over the midwinter months of June to August.

Skiing and Snowboarding
Given that Lesotho boasts the highest average altitude of any country in Africa, and lies well outside the tropics, it should come as no surprise that its loftier reaches are often blanketed with snow for part of the winter, or that people first skied there in the 1920s.

Commercial skiing in Lesotho dates back to 2004 when Afriski Mountain Resort opened in the part of the Maluti Mountains closest to the northern border with South Africa, an Afroalpine region often referred to as the ‘Roof of Africa’. Afriski is the highest of sub-equatorial Africa’s only two skiing and snowboarding destinations, perched at an altitude of 3,050 metres, and in midwinter it attracts a steady stream of devoted and aspirant skiers from Johannesburg, only a half-day’s drive to the north.

Skiing and snowboarding at Afriski are restricted to the midwinter months of June to August. Even at this chilliest time of year, however, a natural cover of skiable snow cannot be guaranteed. As a result, Afriski operates a battery of 34 snow cannons to supplement the natural snowfall, thereby ensuring that its main 1km slope and two beginner slopes are always skiable in season. Conditions permitting, there is also a longer natural ski run at the nearby Mahlasela Pass, which rises to 3,222 metres immediately west of the resort.

Afriski operates much like any European ski village, offering ski lifts to transport guests up the slopes, ski equipment for hire, and tuition as required. It also has accommodation facilities for up to 150 people, and it is the site of Africa’s highest restaurant.

Hiking and Trekking
It is no exaggeration to describe Lesotho as a hiker’s paradise. There are practically no restrictions on hiking through the kingdom’s unfenced highlands, soaking up the spectacular scenery and enjoying the unforced hospitality of its rural inhabitants as you follow a network of informal bridle paths forged over the centuries by Sotho horsemen and shepherds.

Inexperienced hikers seeking accessible and well-marked trails are pointed to Ts’ehlanyane National Park, where a good network of footpaths – ranging from the short and flat Lower Trail to the Black Pool to a demanding Circular Trail past the lovely Matsa Mararo Falls – emanates out of the upmarket Maliba Lodge, which can supply a suitable map or local guide by request.

A more remote but equally straightforward goal for hikers is Sehlabathebe National Park, Here, guides are optionally available to explore a network of trails that traverses a spectacular landscape of rock arches, highland pools and ancient bushman paintings set below the lofty peaks known as the Devil’s Knuckles.

For dedicated peak-baggers, guides are available at Sani Top for the nine-hour round hike to Thabana Ntlenyana, whose 3,482-metre summit is the highest point anywhere in Africa south of Kilimanjaro. An equally beautiful but less demanding four- to five-hour round hike leads from Sani Top to Hodgson’s Peaks, offering some wonderful views over the escarpment along the way.

Other recommended destinations for relatively undemanding guided or unguided day hikes include Semonkong, where you can walk to a viewpoint facing the single-drop 192-metre Maletsunyane Falls or follow a steeper footpath to the gorge below it, and Malealea Lodge, which offers hikes to various waterfalls and rock art sites. Hiking trails out of Afriski Mountain Resort range from around two hours to a full day in duration.

For more dedicated hikers, it is possible to hike the entire eastern Drakensberg escarpment from Mont-aux-Sources in the northwest to Sehlabathebe National Park in the southeast, seldom dropping below 3,000 metres in the process. Particularly recommended is the 40km, 3-day hike along the sensational section of escarpment connecting Sani Top to Sehlabathebe. Guides are available at Sani Top if required, but experienced and self-sufficient hikers with suitable maps and provisions can undertake it as an unguided trek.

Because most of Lesotho lies well above the 2,000-metre, it offers ideal high-altitude training to hikers planning to tackle loftier targets such as Mount Kilimanjaro. It should be noted, however, that weather conditions in the mountains tend to be fickle, and mist, rain, hail and even snow can descend with little warning at any time of year. Overnight hikers should be in possession of good walking shoes, a warm sleeping bag, plenty of warm and waterproof clothing, detailed maps, and sufficient food and water. Camping is permitted anywhere in the kingdom and it is also often possible for hikers who don’t carry a tent to rent a hut in a local Basotho village.

4×4 Adventures
Although most trunk routes in Lesotho are now surfaced and easily traversed in any roadworthy vehicle, the more remote corners of the kingdom still offer great opportunities for 4×4 enthusiasts to hone their skills in magnificent montane settings.

The most famous 4×4 route in Southern Africa, Sani Pass links the small South African town of Underberg, at the base of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg escarpment, to 2,874-metre Sani Top in Lesotho. Sani Pass follows a thrilling succession of rocky switchbacks as it climbs almost 1,500 metres over fewer than 20 kilometres, offering sensational views in all directions. Although it can be driven independently, Sani Pass can also be explored on an organised day tour out of Underberg, one that also provides a great introduction to Sotho culture and Afroalpine ecology, as well as the opportunity to lunch at the highest pub in Africa.

Another excellent albeit more demanding 4×4 route connects Sani Top to Sehlabathebe National Park via Matabeng Pass, a stunning – but after rain, or rockfalls, potentially treacherous – road that summits at 2,940 metres and is traversed by no more than a handful of 4x4s daily. The full drive from Sani Top to Sehlabathebe should take around eight hours if all goes well, but it is advisable to leave as early as possible and to stock up on provisions at the well-equipped small town of Mokhotlong. The reward for all this hard work is some superb views over the sweeping Senqu (Orange) and Sehonghong rivers, followed by few days rambling or hiking in the gorgeous Sehlabathebe National Park.

Another great (mostly) 4×4 route runs southwest from Sehlabathebe National Park to Quthing via Qacha’s Nek, following the Senqu River for much of its length, with must-do diversions to scenic Lake Letsie and the Tsatsane Bushman Paintings.

Possibly the most extreme 4×4 route in Lesotho is the 60km track that runs northeast from Ha Lejone in Katse Dam to the A1 south of Oxbow and Afriski via Tlaeeng Pass, which summits at 3,275 metres, making it the highest road in subequatorial Africa.

Although Sani Pass is traversed by dozens of commercial 4x4s daily, the other routes described above are very remote and should only be attempted by experienced and self-sufficient drivers in reliable vehicles carrying suitable spares. Rockfalls and sudden rainstorms (sometimes accompanied by hail) are a potential hazard in summer, while snow and black ice require extra care in winter, especially at higher altitudes.

Cycling and Mountain Biking
Mountain biking is a fantastic way to appreciate the small mountainous kingdom of Lesotho. Whether you book onto a short morning or afternoon cycling excursion or embark on a more adventurous multi-day expedition, the majestic highland scenery, unique flora and fauna, picturesque stone-and-thatch villages – not to mention an abundance of unsurfaced country roads and well-worn bridle paths – make Lesotho a cyclist’s paradise.

Many of Lesotho’s best-known travel hubs offer guided or unguided cycling packages ranging from a few hours to five days or longer in duration. These include Malealea Lodge in Malealea, Semonkong Lodge near the Maletsunyane Falls, and the Roma Trading Post outside Roma. A popular centre for high altitude cycling training in summer is the Afriski Mountain Resort, which stands at an altitude of 3,050 metres in the Maluti Mountains.

For experienced and self-sufficient cyclists, Lesotho offers plenty of opportunities for self-guided exploration. The eastern half of the country is particularly exciting in this respect, following a route connecting such off-the-beaten-track delights as the Tsatsane Valley, Lake Letsie and Sehlabathebe National Park north towards Sani Top. But in truth there are very few parts of Lesotho that aren’t suited to mountain biking.

Lesotho hosts three exciting annual mountain biking events in September and October. The Lesotho Thin Air Challenge is not a race, but a challenging and scenic four-day adventure aimed at experienced cyclists. Limited to 100 participants, the Lesotho Sky Stage Race, a six-day event that takes in several iconic mountain passes and many remote bridle paths, is fully supported inclusive of accommodation, meals, water points and medical support. By contrast, the Malealea Monster, held every September at Malealea Lodge, is a more relaxed family-oriented race with four different courses, ranging in length from 8km to 75km, to accommodate most skill levels.

For experienced off-road motorcyclists, the cross-country Roof of Africa Rally is a challenging multi-day annual event that was first held in 1967 and now usually takes place in early December.

Horse Riding and Pony Trekking
The most popular mode of transport in rural Lesotho is the Basotho pony, a unique breed of horse distinguished by its relatively small size, robust build and unusually long stride. It is also known for its sure-footedness, calm temperament and stamina in mountainous terrain.

Pony and horse trekking is one of the finest ways for a visitor to explore the extensive network of bridle paths that crisscrosses the mountains of Lesotho. Short treks of a few hours’ duration can be arranged in many parts of the kingdom, providing novice riders with an excellent introduction to rural Basotho culture.

More rewarding for experience riders would be to arrange a multi-day pony trek supported by additional pack animals for gear and provisions. Most such treks stay overnight in a succession of remote high-altitude villages where you can completely escape the high-octane trappings of modern civilisation and gain intimate experience to rural Basotho culture and hospitality.

The Basotho pony has an interesting progeny. Java ponies were first introduced to the Cape in the 1650s and subsequently interbred with taller and more elegant Arabian and Persian horses to create a distinct breed called the Cape horse. During the early years of Moshoeshoe I’s reign, Cape horses captured from neighbouring Zulu and Boer territories were brought to the kingdom and bred selectively to create a smaller and sturdier horse suited to its mountainous terrain. The resultant Basotho Pony, recognised as a distinct breed in the late 19th century, would go on to be favoured for its hardiness by both protagonists during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902.

Today, the main pony and horse trekking centre in Lesotho is Malealea Lodge, which works in conjunction with the local community to offer a wide range of guided treks. These include half-a-dozen different day outings that range from two to seven hours in duration, taking in nearby landmarks such as waterfalls and rock paintings, as well as a few longer options, the most elaborate being a six-night cross-country trek to Semonkong and Maletsunyane Waterfalls.

Pony treks can easily be arranged in mosts other parts of Lesotho though lodges or local tourist guides. Rewarding pony trekking routes exist in Sehlabathebe National Park and Ts’ehlanyane National Park, as well as in the vicinity of Sani Top and the Tsatsane Bushman Paintings.

Bird Watching
Lesotho is a highly rewarding ornithological destination. Despite being one of the smallest countries in Africa, it boasts a checklist of 350 bird species, and is the best place in the world to tick a number of alluring specials endemic to the upper reaches of a biodiversity hotspot known as the Drakensberg Alpine Centre.

High-altitude specials whose range is centred on Lesotho include the Drakensberg rockjumper, a handsome orange-breasted bird often seen running and hopping between boulders around Sani Top and Bokong Nature Reserve, and the conspicuously vocal and rather canary-like Drakensberg siskin.

Lesotho and the neighbouring uKhahlamba-Drakensberg region of South Africa also form the core range of a number of whose range is restricted to Lesotho, South Africa and/or Swaziland. Most conspicuous among these, often seen foraging in small flocks in open grassland, is the striking southern bald ibis, but look out too for the ground woodpecker, yellow-breasted pipit, mountain pipit, buff-streaked chat and bush blackcap.

Gurney’s sugarbird, one of two species assigned to a bird family unique to Southern Africa, is a striking highland nectarivore with a longish tail, russet breast band, bright yellow vent and heavily curved bill. It is most likely to be seen feeding on with flowering proteas, aloes and red-hot-pokers, often alongside the malachite sunbird, a spectacular long-tailed nectarivore with iridescent green feathering.

Other Southern African endemics likely to be encountered in parts of Lesotho include grey-winged francolin, forest buzzard, large-billed lark, African rock pipit, yellow-breasted pipit, chorister robin-chat, buff-streaked chat, sentinel rock thrush, pied starling, southern double-collared sunbird, greater double-collared sunbird, Cape weaver and forest canary.

The craggy escarpments of Lesotho form an important breeding site for cliff-nesters such as jackal buzzard, Cape vulture, Alpine swift and red-winged starling. These cliffs also support the southern hemisphere’s only viable breeding population of the bearded vulture, a massive raptor with a 2.75-metre wingspan and a unique habit of dropping bones from a great height onto a rock slab to crack them open to eat the marrow.

For those seeking highland specials, Sani Top is probably the most rewarding individual site in Lesotho (indeed, Roberts Bird Guide ranks it and the associated Sani Pass among the top ten birdwatching localities in South Africa/Lesotho). Bokong Nature Reserve and Sehlabathebe National Park are also excellent for high-altitude species, while Lake Letsie excels for wetland birds and Ts’ehlanyane National Park is strong on woodland dwellers.

Fishing
The unspoilt highland streams and rivers of Lesotho are renowned for offering superb technical fly-fishing in a pretty and dramatic mountainous setting. Typical catches include brown trout, rainbow trout and smallmouth yellowfish, all of which were introduced by local anglers in the 1950s, while the indigenous barbel and Maloti minnow tend to be found at lower altitudes.

The fly-fishing season opens each year on 1 September and closes on 31 May. However, rivers tend to slit up between December and February, the height of the rainy season, which adversely affects the quality of fishing, so the peak seasons are from September to November and from March to May.

It is advisable to go with a local guide, who will know the best fishing spots, and can also arrange suitable licences and advise whether permission from any local chief is required. Guides can be arranged through most lodges and hotels that stand close to popular fishing locations and regularly cater to international visitors, for instance Semonkong Lodge, Malealea Lodge, Roma Trading Post, Katse Lodge, Mohale Lodge and Maliba Lodge. For those spending longer in the country, monthly and annual licenses can be obtained directly from the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority.

Equipment that may be used for trout fishing is limited to a rod, line and artificial non-spinning flies. Landing nets and gaffs are not permitted. The bag limit for trout is twelve specimens of at least 25 centimetres in length. Any smaller or excess trout must be returned to the water. Trout fishing is not permitted at all over the midwinter months of June to August, which is closed season.

Popular and relatively accessible fly-fishing spots include the following:
Katse Dam
– The main reservoir, where a floatation device may be required
– The Malibamat’so and Pelaneng confluence 2km upstream from Motebong lodge in Ha Lejone.
– The Pelaneng river valley, a few kilometres upstream from the Malibamat’so confluence.

Mohale Dam
– Makhaleng River, 2 km below Molimo Nthuse Lodge.

Oxbow and Afriski
– The confluence of the Ts’ehlanyane and Tlholohatsi Rivers about 2km from Oxbow Lodge.
– The Malibamat’so River 2 km below Oxbow Lodge.
– Sehlabathebe National Park
– Tsoelikana River downstream from the waterfall of the same name.
– The ponds of the near the old Sehlabathebe Lodge.
– Leqooa River, a four-hour pony trek from the old lodge.

Semonkong
– Maletsunyane River upstream of and at the bottom of the Maletsunyane Falls.

Abseiling and Rock Climbing
The rock faces and peaks of Lesotho offers a wealth of opportunities to adventurous rock climbers and abseilers with suitable experience and equipment.

Maletsunyane Falls, near Semonkong, is the setting for the world’s longest commercial single-drop abseil. The 204-metre descent alongside one of Africa’s tallest single-drop waterfalls is a truly breathtaking experience, one that frequently leaves you suspended against the rock face with a fine spray blowing into your face. The views to the verdant gorge below are sensational too. A good for heights is a prerequisite, but despite the length of the descent, no experience is required, since advance training is given to all abseilers on a smaller cliff.

Paragliding and Hang Gliding
The spectacular mountains of Lesotho offer ideal conditions for hang gliding and paragliding. The mountain air is delightfully fresh, and visibility tends to be good, while wind conditions are often perfect. The preponderance of cliffs throughout the country also means there is no shortage of potential launching sites. As things stand, however, no commercial hang gliding or paragliding operators exist in Lesotho, and no specialist equipment is available for hire, so the country is only suited to experienced gliders with their own gear.

Trail Running
Lesotho offers some the world’s best conditions for high-altitude running. The vast network of informal bridle paths that runs through the kingdom’s scenic highlands is primarily used by Sotho shepherds and their livestock, but these ancient tracks are also ideal for experienced trail runners wanting to gain experience at medium to high altitudes, ranging from 1,400 metres to 3,200 metres.

Great opportunities for trail running exist almost throughout Lesotho. The clearly signposted dirt road and trails that run through the country’s two national parks Sehlabathebe and Ts’ehlanyane make for a good starting point. However, with suitable gear, such as GPS, water bladder and so on, one could treat almost any footpath in the country as a potential trail run, including the ascent from Sani Top to Thabana Ntlenyana, the tallest peak in Africa south of Kilimanjaro.

Although Lesotho holds a special appeal to off-road runners, the country’s network of surfaced and unsurfaced roads also provides plenty of opportunities for road runners and other athletes to work on hill and altitude training. Except in the immediate vicinity of Maseru and a few other large towns, roads in Lesotho tend to be very quiet, and safe for running.

A particularly good spot for high altitude training is the Afriski Mountain Resort, which stands at above 3,000 metres in the Maloti Mountains and is surrounded by roads and trails suited to both type of runner. Between mid-September and mid-May, Afriski also offers regular high-altitude training camps supervised by an experienced personal trainer and coach.

For racers, the kingdom’s most challenging event is the Lesotho Ultra Trail held annually in Ts’ehlanyane National Park every November since 2013. This testing circular 50km ultra-marathon entails a total altitude gain and loss of around 2,500m over two main ascents and descents, and it peaks at around 3,155 metres from a low point of 1,950m. There is also a slightly less demanding 38km variation entailing a total altitude gain and loss of around 1,700m.

A less hardcore event is the Malealea Monster Weekend of Adventure held at Malealea Lodge every September. This family-orientated event comprises a mountain biking race with four options ranging from 8km to 75km on the Saturday, then the choice of 8km, 15km and 25km trail runs on the Sunday.

Together with the neighbouring uKhahlamba-Drakensberg in South Africa, the highlands of Lesotho form a hub of ancient floral biodiversity known to botanists as the Drakensberg Alpine Centre. More than 2,000 plant species are indigenous to this region and of these roughly 30 percent are endemic (in other words, they occur nowhere else) and more than 100 are listed as globally threatened.

Lesotho is known for its prolific wildflowers, most of which bloom during the rainy summer months of November to April. But the floral landscape has much to offer at other times of year. Autumn is when the stunning red-hot pokers of the genus Kniphofia come into bloom, only to give way to aloes in winter. Both aloes and red-hot pokers have prominent red, yellow and orange flowers that form a magnet to nectarivorous insects and birds. One of the most spectacular and vulnerable of Drakensberg Alpine Centre endemics, the spiral aloe Aloe polyphylla is the national flower of Lesotho and easily recognised by its base of fleshy leaves arranged in a neat almost symmetrical spiral.

Lesotho lacks the prolific big game associated with some other larger African countries, but its national parks and nature reserves do support small herds of eland, oribi, grey rhebok and other antelope, along with baboons and smaller carnivores such as black-backed jackal, serval and caracal. The most conspicuous small mammal is the rock hyrax, which looks a bit like a guinea pig (though it is in fact more closely related to elephants than rodents) and is often seen sunning itself on boulders or cliffs. The endearing Sloggett’s ice rat, a Drakensberg Alpine Centre endemic associated with moorland above the 2,500m contour, is particularly common and conspicuous in the vicinity of Sani Top, and an important source of nutrition to highland raptors.

Despite its small size, Lesotho boasts a checklist of 350 bird species. This includes roughly half of those bird species whose natural range is restricted to South Africa, Lesotho and/or Swaziland. Among these, the Drakensberg rockjumper and Drakensberg siskin are endemic to the Drakensberg Alpine Centre, and this area also forms the core range of the southern bald ibis, Gurney’s sugarbird, yellow-breasted pipit, mountain pipit, buff-streaked chat, bush blackcap and Drakensberg prinia.

Other Southern African endemics likely to be encountered in parts of Lesotho include grey-winged francolin, ground woodpecker, forest buzzard, large-billed lark, African rock pipit, yellow-breasted pipit, chorister robin-chat, buff-streaked chat, sentinel rock thrush, pied starling, southern double-collared sunbird, greater double-collared sunbird, Cape weaver and forest canary.

The Drakensberg Alpine Centre is an important breeding stronghold for the cliff-nesting near-endemic jackal buzzard and Cape vulture, and it hosts southern Africa’s last viable breeding population of the bearded vulture or lammergeyer. Other noteworthy birds include the near-endemic blue crane, the handsome wattled crane, the large Alpine swift, and the nectarivorous malachite sunbird.

Lesotho contains two national parks. Both are primarily of interest for the opportunity to hike or do a horseback trek in a scenic highland setting, but the two are very different in terms of the landscapes and ecologies they protect.

Lesotho’s oldest and largest protected area, Sehlabathebe National Park forms part of the cross-border Maloti-Drakensberg World Heritage Site as inscribed by UNESCO. One of the region’s most isolated and dramatic national parks, it protects a panorama of rolling grassland studded with immense rock arches, sandstone caves, waterfalls and rock pools, all set below an imposing formation known as the Devil’s Knuckles. Other attractions include colourful wildflowers, large mammals such as grey rhebok, baboon and black-backed jackal, trout fishing in the streams, typical Afromontane birds including Cape vulture and Drakensberg rockjumper, and an incredible 65 prehistoric rock art sites.

Far more accessible than Sehlabathebe, Ts’ehlanyane National Park stands in the rugged Maluti Mountains northeast of Maseru. An important stronghold for the endemic bamboo species with which it shares its Sesotho name, Ts’ehlanyane also supports some of the last remaining indigenous forest in Lesotho, dominated by the evergreen Ouhout tree. The park is bisected by four montane streams punctuated by some spectacular waterfalls and lovely natural swimming pools. It is one of the last places in Lesotho roamed by the majestic eland antelope, and it also supports a diverse birdlife including bush blackcap and malachite sunbird.

There are a few other notable natural areas in Lesotho. Bokong Nature Reserve is famed for its Alpine flora and fauna, and a spectacular waterfall that often freezes solid in winter. The small but very rewarding Katse Botanical Garden has much to offer keen birders as well as botanists. Another great birding site, the remote and little-visited Lake Letsie is a Ramsar wetland and important catchment area protected in the Letseng-la-Letsie Nature Reserve.

Bokong Nature Reserve
Bisected by the surfaced A25 as it runs between Leribe and Katse Dam, lofty Bokong is a small but very scenic and hiker-friendly reserve spanning altitudes of 2,800 to 3,200 metres. It is best-known as the site of the attractive Lepaqoa Falls, which tumbles horseshoe-like over a 60-metre cliff, and often freezes in winter to form a column of solid ice.

Bokong Nature Reserve is accessed via the Mafika Lisiu Pass, whose name alludes to a prominent rock formation said locally to resemble a maize bag. The pass reaches its misty windswept apex at an altitude of 3,090 metres, where a short side road leads to an impressive viewpoint over the relatively low-lying foothills to the west.

A short distance past the summit of Mafika Lisiu, Bokong Nature Reserve’s attractive clifftop Visitors’ Centre overlooks the green valley carved by the Lepaqoa River and hosts an informative interpretative display. The centre also offers a distant view to Lepaqoa Falls, but for better views it is worth following the flattish 1.5km footpath that leads across a boulder-strewn highland meadow to a viewpoint directly above and opposite the waterfall.

The footpath to the waterfall passes through highland bogs and fends that protect several endemic plan species and play an important ecological role sponging up rainwater in the wet season. During the drier winter months, this water is gradually released into the many montane streams that rise in the reserve, reinforcing its importance as a watershed.

The grey rhebok, a medium-sized antelope endemic to southern Africa, is often seen running through the montane meadows of Bokong and easily recognised by the conspicuous fluffy white tail it holds aloft when in flight. The endangered Cape vulture breeds in the cliffs opposite the Visitor’s Centre. Other endemic birds likely to be seen include the handsome Drakensberg rockjumper, vociferous grey-winged Francolin, and peculiar ground woodpecker. A conspicuous seasonally flowering plant is the red-hot poker (Kniphofia spp), which often grows in fiery orange and yellow clumps close to streams.

Although most visitors stick to the short trail between the Visitors’ Centre and the viewpoint to Lepaqoa Falls, hiking is permitted anywhere in the reserve. Bokong is also the starting point for a stunning two- to three-day 32km hike to Ts’ehlanyane National Park via an alpine plateau sometimes referred to as the Roof of Africa.

Lake Letsie
The largest natural freshwater body in Lesotho, remote and little-visited Lake Letsie is a true off-the-beaten-track scenic gem that will prove particularly rewarding to birdwatchers.

A gorgeous Alpine lake set an at an altitude of above 3,000m, Letsie occupies a grassy 800ha valley enclosed surrounded by rocky heather-clad slopes that bloom bright yellow in spring. Not only is it the kingdom’s only Ramsar protected wetland, but it also forms the centrepiece of the Letseng-la-Letsie Nature Reserve. It is an important catchment area that filters the source of the Quthing River, a major tributary of the Senqu (Orange).

Birders are in for a treat. The endangered Cape vulture soars overhead, occasionally joined by the even rarer bearded vulture, and the likes of Verreaux’s eagle, jackal buzzard and lesser kestrel. The inundated grassland around the lake is a favoured haunt of blue crane, southern bald ibis and black harrier, all of which are regional endemics, and it is also visited seasonally by European stork and wattled crane. The lake’s shallows are a magnet for waterfowl and waders, including the lovely black-winged stilt and pied avocet, while the surrounding slopes support such highland specials as Drakensberg rockjumper, ground woodpecker, yellow-breasted pipit and Drakensberg siskin. Mammals are scarcer, but you might well see the endearing rock hyrax and Sloggett’s ice rat on rocky outcrops.

An added attraction of Lake Letsie is the spectacular but occasionally challenging dirt road that connects it to Mount Moorosi via the Makoae River. For keen walkers, an excellent add-on to Lake Letsie is the four-hour round hike to the Majoana Mabedi Falls, which ranks among the most spectacular waterfalls in Lesotho, its twin streams plunging more than 100m into a sheer-sided ravine.

Liphofung Nature Reserve
Lesotho’s smallest nature reserve protects a dramatic and atmospheric rock overhang known for its historical association with the 19th-century King Moshoeshoe I and for housing a collection of rock paintings attributed to the San (Bushmen) hunter-gatherers who inhabited the region in prehistoric times.

Liphofung (literally Place of the Eland) is named for the paintings of Africa’s largest antelope left behind on its walls by the San hunter-gatherers who dwelt and performed shamanic rituals in the deep overhang for a period of around 5,000. Other rock art at the site includes depictions of people hunting, stick-fighting and participating in a rainmaking ceremony. Though the paintings are more faded that at other sites in Lesotho such as Ha Baroana and Tsatsane, they are accompanied by excellent explanatory panels that show what they would have looked like in their prime and also place then in a cultural context.

Liphofung’s other main claim to fame is that the future King Moshoeshoe I, founder of the Sotho Kingdom, sheltered in the overhang when he travelled to the area as a young man, and then used it as a natural sanatorium for injured soldiers during a battle undertaken in 1840.

A small Visitors’ Centre incorporating displays about traditional Basotho culture, King Moshoeshoe and San rock art has been developed at the site. From here, it is just a five-minute walk to the overhang along a steep but well-maintained footpath.

Sehlabathebe National Park
Established in 1970 as Lesotho’s first national park, the fabulously scenic and remote Sehlabathebe protects 65 square kilometres of rolling boulder-studded grassland set below the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg escarpment as it runs along the border with South Africa.

Set at an average altitude of 2,400 metres, Sehlabathebe – literally ‘Shield of the Plateau’ – is one of the most isolated and dramatic national parks anywhere in southern Africa. Its international importance was recognised in 2008 when UNESCO incorporated it into the cross-border Maloti-Drakensberg World Heritage Site. This is one of only two World Heritage Sites in sub-equatorial Africa to be classified as mixed, which means it is recognised for its cultural significance (in the form of abundant prehistoric rock art) as well as its diverse natural assets.

A hiker’s paradise, Sehlabathebe is studded with weird and wonderful natural rock formations sculpted by the erosion of sandstone substrata below harder igneous rocks. Most spectacular, situated about 10km inside the main entrance gate close, is a fantastic giant’s playground of immense rock arches, caves, dolmen-like outcrops and clear rock pools set below the imposing trio of escarpment peaks known as the Devil’s Knuckles or Three Bushmen.

Sehlabathebe is renowned for its wealth of wildflowers, which bloom most prolifically between November and February. Most notable among these is the white-and-yellow Sehlabathebe waterlily Aponogeton ranunculiflorus, an endangered buttercup-like endemic that grows in the muddy base of shallow sandstone rock pools.

The park’s most abundant large mammal is the grey rhebok, a medium-sized white-tailed antelope frequently seen in grazing on the grassy slopes in pairs or small family groups. Other wildlife occasionally seen by hikers includes eland, oribi, baboon, rock hyrax and black-back jackal. The birdlife is dominated by Afromontane specials such as Cape vulture, jackal buzzard, Drakensberg rockjumper, yellow-breasted pipit and Drakensberg siskin. The surrounding mountains are a breeding site for the rare bearded vulture and the only place in southern Africa where the Egyptian vulture has been recorded in recent years.

Hiking aside, Sehlabathebe can also be explored on horseback, and there is excellent trout fishing on the Tsoelikana River, where an attractive waterfall tumbles over a low cliff into a chilly natural swimming pool.

An incredible 65 rock art sites have been documented within Sehlabathebe National Park. The most accessible, and one of the best preserved, is signposted from the main road between the gate and the lodge. It includes several depictions of eland, a running herd of smaller antelope (probably springbok or hartebeest) and several human figures.

Ts’ehlanyane National Park
Lesotho’s most accessible national park, set in the southern Maluti Mountains 150km northeast of Maseru, is known for its rugged montane vistas, rich sub-Alpine floral diversity, beautiful waterfalls, diverse birdlife, and excellent network of hiking and horseback trails.

Extending across 56 square kilometres of sensational mountain scenery, Ts’ehlanyane boasts an impressive altitude span of 1,940 to 3,110 metres and it is flowed through by four major rivers including the Holomo and tributary Ts’ehlanyane.

The upper slopes of Ts’ehlanyane support a cover of rare heath-like mountain fynbos studded with colourful aloes, irises and other flowering plants that bloom most prodigiously in spring. It is also the world’s most important stronghold for the berg bamboo Thamnocalamus tessellatus, a Maloti-Drakensberg endemic that lends its Sotho name Ts’ehlanyane not only to the park but also to the river along whose banks it is particularly prolific. By contrast, the Holomo River valley supports a gorgeous tract of forest dominated by Leucosidea sericea, an evergreen tree whose common Afrikaans name Ouhout (Old Wood) refers to the gnarled, timeworn appearance of its trunk.

Ts’ehlanyane is best explored along a network of well-marked walking trails that emanate from its main focal point Maliba Lodge. These range from the flat and gentle Lower Trail to Lets’a Lets’o (Black Lake), an attractive natural swimming pool set above a small waterfall on the bamboo-lined Ts’ehlanyane River, to the demanding 16km Circular Trail, which has some very steep sections but rewards with sensational views to the lovely Matsa Mararo Falls as they cascade down a tall cliff in three tiered stages, each with a large pool at its base. The same trails can also be done on horseback by arrangement with the lodge or the national park guides.

The most conspicuous of 20-plus mammal species protected in Ts’ehlanyane are the majestic eland (the world’s largest antelope) and the endearing rock hyrax, which looks like an overgrown guinea pig but is more closely related to elephants than rodents. Birders will find the park highly rewarding: look out for bush blackcap, southern boubou, Cape batis and Drakensberg siskin in the riverine woodland, the iridescent malachite sunbird feeding on aloes and other flowers, and jackal buzzard, Cape vulture and possibly even the endangered bearded vulture soaring overhead.