On the road: Drakensberg Mountains

The past week or so we followed the Drakensberg mountains from north to south. Starting at the spectacular Blyde River Canyon, which is apparently the third largest canyon in the world. It’s hard to compare this canyon to #1 Grand Canyon and #2 Fish River Canyon, but spectacular it was indeed. We traveled south to the Golden Gate Highlands National Park. With landscapes that at times are almost similar to the Scottish highlands, but with zebra’s and at an altitude of 2000m+ :). It’s only a relatively small national park, but worth spending a day or two.

After Golden Gate we crossed the border into Lesotho for a short visit to this beautiful mountain kingdom. It proved to be a perfect route to take if you travel from Kruger to the South African coast and want something different for a couple of days. Crossing several 3000m+ mountain passes, some 4×4 only, all with spectacular mountain views. A little more trivia: Lesotho is the country with the highest lowest point in the world, apparently. Lesotho felt entirely different than what we’ve seen of South Africa so far, with a completely different vibe in the towns. We ended up setting up camp at a remote mountain village, far away from everything, an experience that added to Lesotho being another big highlight.

The trip through Lesotho ended with the most insane mountain road at Sani Pass on the Losotho / South Africa border. A 4×4 only ‘road’ with the craziest hair pin turns that seem to go on forever. A perfect end to our short road trip through Lesotho and a perfect way to say goodbye to the Drakensberge for now.