KZN/Lesotho road trip: Day 17 - St James Lodge to Golden Gate

I woke up once during the night and the rain had stopped but when I got up at five it was raining again and when it started to get light we could see snow on the mountains around the Sani pass area. We got up the pass just in time.

Based on the advice we had got and the fact that it had rained all night we decided not to take the road east to Katse dam but instead to head north along the A1 to the border and see how it panned out time wise. Our fellow travelers had travelled along this road the previous day and said it was a good tar road. To get back to this road we had to go down a steep pass into the valley and then out the other side on a now wet and slippery road. So it was a slow drive in four wheel drive down and up.

The tar road was very good and I was considering pumping my tyres up again. That thought went out the window very shortly when we started hitting the potholes. We were going up Tlaeeng pass and the tar road deteriorated into just gravel. Now and again you could see the tar strips sticking out. We climbed and climbed and the potholes got worse. I suppose you could start calling them craters now. Suddenly we came around the bend and saw snow. Lesley had to get out and touch it. I got a snowball against the windscreen and after checking the outside temperature gauge, it showed 4 degrees, was glad I was inside the car. The temp had dropped from 8 degrees when we left St James.

A little later we saw a sign for Sky Restaurant, the highest restaurant in Africa. It turned out to be on the premises of Afri-Ski. They operate a ski slope in winter and offer other activities. We were greeted by Heather and Jacques who are involved in the resort and had a nice friendly chat. They told us that the current restaurant premises are new and that there are new summer activities that have been introduced. You can get all the information on their website at www.afriski.net It would appear that Tiffendale ski resort in South Africa is closed and this is the only one in Africa. We enjoyed excellent cappuccinos and toasted sandwiches in the restaurant before we left.

(It seems that Sani Top Chalet’s claim to having the highest pub in Africa is no longer valid. Sani Top Chalet is at 2874 metres. Afri-Ski has a bar in the Gondola Café which resides at over 3000 metres.)

The road got better a little way past Afr-Ski and we were able to get into fourth gear in places. We were driving along and suddenly we had snow hitting the windscreen. It was amazing for us country bumpkins who had never seen it snowing before. We really got excited.

We also encountered a bird of prey perched at the top of a pole. We could not identify it in our bird book though. All the way along the road we have had to dodge sheep, goats, donkeys and cattle. The more we try to go past them the faster they run. Quite funny really.

We were stopped at the top of Moteng pass by traffic police to wait for an abnormal load of an excavator coming up for the diamond mine. The truck was assisted with a tow by a massive dump truck that was brought from the mine to get it up the pass. When we were let on our way down the pass I could see why. This pass is really steep with some very sharp hairpin bends. It was very carefully down this one.

The rest of the way to the border at Caledonspoort was relatively easy. We had decided that we would look for a place to stay in South Africa and Lesley had seen on the map that Golden Gate National Park was not too far from the border. It was a quick stop in Fouriesburg to pump the tyres and check the route on the laptop.

As Lesley has not been feeling that great we decided not to camp and managed to get a longdawel in the Glen Reenen resort. Very nicely equipped but rather expensive. Tomorrow we will do some of the drives before heading to Ladybrand where we will be staying with my cousin, Andrew and his family. We had a lovely braai and went to bed.