Drakensberg Meander - with video added

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JonW

Grey Hound
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Location
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There have been suggestions made that the Ride Reports section of the forum is dying. I am not going to debate that subject either way. Whether it is dying or not is not going to influence the way I (and many others on the forum) live our lives.

We are going to carry on going for rides and in some cases will also continue to record our experiences of the ride here.

This is a trip that i have done a few times before, with a number of different people, and each of those times I have taken something different away.

The trip involves starting near Swartberg in Kzn and goes up a private pass known as Thule pass to the top of the Drakensberg and comes out at Sehlabathebe National Park in Lesotho. I am only able to do this ride every two to three years because the pass goes through a number of farms and the farm owners are very very sticky about giving permission for people to cross their lands. So it is quite a mission to get the necessary land owners consent, but worthwhile once it is obtained.

This time I asked my mate Highsider as well as BeeBob and Bullet and Dawie to join me, because I know they all like exactly the kind of riding that i enjoy.

Highsider BeeBob and I trailered to Saint Bernards Peak Lodge near Swartberg from Pmb, while Bullet and Dawie drove down from Pretoria.

All of us were on KTM 500's, although some considerably newer and better looking than others. I was on my trusty 520. Highsider on his slightly newer 525 and the others all on almost new 500 EXC's.

After quite a few beers the previous night we decided to leave after breakfast and headed up the pass at about 09h00.

The weather was awesome, quite windy, but clear blue skies. I decided not even to take my jacket and just wore a riding shirt, this proved to be a great decision, the weather was warm all weekend with not a hint of rain.

The plan was to  get up the pass and into Lesotho, then head along the Lesotho border fence through Sehlabathebe National Park until we got to the pass that leads down to Bushman's Neck, then head towards Thamatu Village and Thamatu Lodge where we were staying that night.

One thing that was on all of our minds was the fact that we would be missing the World Cup final, but we agreed we would all rather be out riding in Lesotho than sitting at home watching rugby on TV. I obviously chose my companions well  :thumleft:
 

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