My long awaited trip to Lesotho to do the much spoken about Sani Pass was planned for the weekend of the 27th April 2007. After a few discussions Zonkelnut and Popipants decided it would be a good trip to join in on. One other taker was Angus and wife (in a Land Rover) from the office who was also going on the same weekend and decided to tag along with the bike.
The plan was to leave JHB early on Friday morning and get the boring bits out of the way by heading down the N3 as far as Harrismith, from there it would be 80% dirt roads to Himeville on day one. Day 2 would be up Sani Pass and then head on to Katse dam for Saturday night camping and then head home via Fouriesburg on Sunday. I must add at this point that no overnight accommodation had been booked and we would stay where we could along the way.
The weekend promised to be a cold one with Saturday temperatures going down to -3 degrees and maxing out at 6 degrees in Lesotho.
At 06h30 on Friday morning, Zonkel and myself met at the Ultra City in Midrand to leave and meet Popipants near Kempton for the first part of the trip to Harrismith. There were already warning signs of rain an I just remembered that I had forgotten my rain coat at home, this would prove to be a very silly thing to do.
The N3 south was hectic at that time of the morning with thousands of cars heading in the direction of Durban and the rain was not helping either. After meeting up with Popipants we stopped under a bridge for those lucky ones who had rain coats to put them on.
Luckily for me the rain stopped within the next 50 km?s and the trip down to Harrismith was fairly uneventful except for the fact that the cold weather that was just starting to show it?s fangs. We pulled into Harrismith for a short break and something to drink before we started on the dirt roads down to Bergville.
From Harrismith, the plan was to follow Sharkies route down Bezuidenhouts dirt road pass to Bergville, what beautifull country side. The wind was howling and at one point nearly pushed the bike over while it was standing on the side stand.
The road starts out as a good dirt highway and then goes onto more jeep track type roads, with the scenery being just awesome all the way down.
Doesn?t the new baby look just awesome in her natural environment??
We filled up at Bergville and then head on some more awesome road towards Himeville. It was on this section where myself and Popipants thought we had lost Zonkel only to find him chatting to some locals at a shabeen. We pulled in and had an ice cold one to clear the dust from our throats with some Black Labels.
The speed had picked up along the way and Zonkel overcooked a 90 degree corner. The pic below shows Zonkel having a cig while trying to let the adrenaline that was pumping through his veins calm down a little.
The road into Himeville is an awesome dirt road that was full of sharp corners and descents and has to be a road worth riding for any dual sport rider.
We arrived at Himeville at about 17h00 and set out finding a camp site for the night. The local camp grounds have a sign on saying that they are closed until further notice (UN-KEWL). So we head off to the pub at the Himeville Arms and phone around to try and find a camp site while enjoying a few cold ones. We did find camping at the Sani lodge, the only problem is that we had to be in before 21h00. We were also due to meet Angus for dinner at the Himeville arms.
Before long a guy comes up and asks about the Wild Dog badge on Zonkel?s helmet. After a bit of discussion and some more drinks, the guy who we find out is Pistol from the forum invites us to share a room with his mate Brian.
Due to the fact that there is only on extra bed and space on the floor for the other 2, Zonkel comes up with the idea to draw cigarettes and the one who picks the Camel gets to sleep on the bed. No problem and Zonkel gets the Camel. Popipants and I will be sleeping on the floor.
Much laughter and drinking went on, with the laughter being about what Brian was going to do with Zonkel in the bed that night.
The room we shared. Thanks Pistol and Brian
The pic below is of Zonkel bending while Brian touches a sensitive area (Zonkel can explain)
Day 2 arrived with us getting up early to leave for the border post and be there as close to 8am as possible.
The trip up Sani was good fun with me dropping the bike at the bottom when I stalled it and then tried to put my foot down only to find a hole so I had to put the bike down gently. We met some non-Wild Dog riders on their way down with warnings of ice near the top of the pass.
Near the top I stopped to take some pics
Popipants coming up.
The pass itself is not that difficult but a very enjoyable ride. At the top and man is it cold.
From there we made our way through the border post and into the pub for a quick drink.
Time to get going as we have heard many different reports on how long it will take to Katse Dam (220 km?s). The road from Sani top to Katse dam via Thaba-Tseka is awesome with us covering some of the best dirt road passes on the planet. The cold is however really bad with us having to stop fairly frequently to warm up along the side of the road. There are sections were you climb up the one side of the mountain and climb up a 1000 meters and then down the other side into the next valley another 1000 meters.
Shortly after Sani top, we stopped to take a photo and Popipants shows me his GPS altitude reading 3200 meters above sea level.
Popipants looking like a Star Wars trooper
The GPS reading at the top of the first mountain (I don?t think this was the highest)
A few more pics along the way.
We arrived at Thaba-Tseka at about 14h00 and filled up with juice petrol for the bikes and beers for us from a local bar owner called Henriette. She was very friendly and we met up with her later at a pub on the way out of Lesotho. When we were leaving, the snow started falling quite heavily but cleared a few km?s out of town.
At this point Zonkel was almost taken out by a bakkie when they didn?t see him. In case you wanted to know, bakkie tires burn holes in Richa riding pants.
A pic of us stopping while the bakkie owner and his wife give Zonkel something to drink while apologizing.
About 10 km?s outside Katse village, the snow starts falling really hard (Did I mention yet that we were freezing yet?)
When we stopped just outside Katse village, the snow was still falling.
We found accommodation at the Katse Dam camp site and I must say I was dreading pitching my tent in that cold weather. One of the guys in a 4x4 at the campsite, said that his temp gauge was showing -6 degrees at 16h30 in the afternoon. Man it was cold
We met up with Transalpman, who arrived just before dark and I think he was close to frozen solid. Thanks to a very friendly lady, who offered us to sleep in the office building, we slept fairly warmly that night inside.
In the pic below is (from left to right)
Transalpman, Zonkel, Popipants, Angus, Denita enjoying some OBS and trying to keep warm around the fire.
The next morning we woke to warmer temperatures and some sunshine (which was much appreciated). We headed off up towards Leribe, Butha Buthe and then out to Fouriesburg. The tar roads from the dam towards Leribe have some of the nicest tar passes to be found anywhere. You just have to watch out for rocks in the road and ice in patches in the early morning (in the shaded areas).
Snow can be seen on the mountains around.
Filling up with juice just after the pass going out of the dam
The people at the petrol place were thawing these to animal heads for later use as they had been left outside overnight and were frozen (no need for fridges)
Some pics of the dam. You do not realize just how far the dam stretches with us riding for at least 20 to 30 km?s with the dam in sight most of the time
At one point we stopped along the side of the road to take some pics of the ice along the side of the road.
Of course Zonkel could not resist in making himself look way better than he is
From here we headed home pretty fast (no time for more pics) and had some lunch in Fouriesburg, from there we head past Reitz and onto home.
Some action shots on the way home:
Zonkel leaning on the tank in that long road riding style
Popipants looking relaxed
When I got home at about 18h30, I jumped straight in the bath and thawed for at least an hour, man it was the best feeling on earth to be warm again.
This trip has to be one of the trips I will never forget. Thanks to Zonel and Popipants for making a truly memorable trip with good fun at all times.
The plan was to leave JHB early on Friday morning and get the boring bits out of the way by heading down the N3 as far as Harrismith, from there it would be 80% dirt roads to Himeville on day one. Day 2 would be up Sani Pass and then head on to Katse dam for Saturday night camping and then head home via Fouriesburg on Sunday. I must add at this point that no overnight accommodation had been booked and we would stay where we could along the way.
The weekend promised to be a cold one with Saturday temperatures going down to -3 degrees and maxing out at 6 degrees in Lesotho.
At 06h30 on Friday morning, Zonkel and myself met at the Ultra City in Midrand to leave and meet Popipants near Kempton for the first part of the trip to Harrismith. There were already warning signs of rain an I just remembered that I had forgotten my rain coat at home, this would prove to be a very silly thing to do.
The N3 south was hectic at that time of the morning with thousands of cars heading in the direction of Durban and the rain was not helping either. After meeting up with Popipants we stopped under a bridge for those lucky ones who had rain coats to put them on.
Luckily for me the rain stopped within the next 50 km?s and the trip down to Harrismith was fairly uneventful except for the fact that the cold weather that was just starting to show it?s fangs. We pulled into Harrismith for a short break and something to drink before we started on the dirt roads down to Bergville.
From Harrismith, the plan was to follow Sharkies route down Bezuidenhouts dirt road pass to Bergville, what beautifull country side. The wind was howling and at one point nearly pushed the bike over while it was standing on the side stand.
The road starts out as a good dirt highway and then goes onto more jeep track type roads, with the scenery being just awesome all the way down.
Doesn?t the new baby look just awesome in her natural environment??
We filled up at Bergville and then head on some more awesome road towards Himeville. It was on this section where myself and Popipants thought we had lost Zonkel only to find him chatting to some locals at a shabeen. We pulled in and had an ice cold one to clear the dust from our throats with some Black Labels.
The speed had picked up along the way and Zonkel overcooked a 90 degree corner. The pic below shows Zonkel having a cig while trying to let the adrenaline that was pumping through his veins calm down a little.
The road into Himeville is an awesome dirt road that was full of sharp corners and descents and has to be a road worth riding for any dual sport rider.
We arrived at Himeville at about 17h00 and set out finding a camp site for the night. The local camp grounds have a sign on saying that they are closed until further notice (UN-KEWL). So we head off to the pub at the Himeville Arms and phone around to try and find a camp site while enjoying a few cold ones. We did find camping at the Sani lodge, the only problem is that we had to be in before 21h00. We were also due to meet Angus for dinner at the Himeville arms.
Before long a guy comes up and asks about the Wild Dog badge on Zonkel?s helmet. After a bit of discussion and some more drinks, the guy who we find out is Pistol from the forum invites us to share a room with his mate Brian.
Due to the fact that there is only on extra bed and space on the floor for the other 2, Zonkel comes up with the idea to draw cigarettes and the one who picks the Camel gets to sleep on the bed. No problem and Zonkel gets the Camel. Popipants and I will be sleeping on the floor.
Much laughter and drinking went on, with the laughter being about what Brian was going to do with Zonkel in the bed that night.
The room we shared. Thanks Pistol and Brian
The pic below is of Zonkel bending while Brian touches a sensitive area (Zonkel can explain)
Day 2 arrived with us getting up early to leave for the border post and be there as close to 8am as possible.
The trip up Sani was good fun with me dropping the bike at the bottom when I stalled it and then tried to put my foot down only to find a hole so I had to put the bike down gently. We met some non-Wild Dog riders on their way down with warnings of ice near the top of the pass.
Near the top I stopped to take some pics
Popipants coming up.
The pass itself is not that difficult but a very enjoyable ride. At the top and man is it cold.
From there we made our way through the border post and into the pub for a quick drink.
Time to get going as we have heard many different reports on how long it will take to Katse Dam (220 km?s). The road from Sani top to Katse dam via Thaba-Tseka is awesome with us covering some of the best dirt road passes on the planet. The cold is however really bad with us having to stop fairly frequently to warm up along the side of the road. There are sections were you climb up the one side of the mountain and climb up a 1000 meters and then down the other side into the next valley another 1000 meters.
Shortly after Sani top, we stopped to take a photo and Popipants shows me his GPS altitude reading 3200 meters above sea level.
Popipants looking like a Star Wars trooper
The GPS reading at the top of the first mountain (I don?t think this was the highest)
A few more pics along the way.
We arrived at Thaba-Tseka at about 14h00 and filled up with juice petrol for the bikes and beers for us from a local bar owner called Henriette. She was very friendly and we met up with her later at a pub on the way out of Lesotho. When we were leaving, the snow started falling quite heavily but cleared a few km?s out of town.
At this point Zonkel was almost taken out by a bakkie when they didn?t see him. In case you wanted to know, bakkie tires burn holes in Richa riding pants.
A pic of us stopping while the bakkie owner and his wife give Zonkel something to drink while apologizing.
About 10 km?s outside Katse village, the snow starts falling really hard (Did I mention yet that we were freezing yet?)
When we stopped just outside Katse village, the snow was still falling.
We found accommodation at the Katse Dam camp site and I must say I was dreading pitching my tent in that cold weather. One of the guys in a 4x4 at the campsite, said that his temp gauge was showing -6 degrees at 16h30 in the afternoon. Man it was cold
We met up with Transalpman, who arrived just before dark and I think he was close to frozen solid. Thanks to a very friendly lady, who offered us to sleep in the office building, we slept fairly warmly that night inside.
In the pic below is (from left to right)
Transalpman, Zonkel, Popipants, Angus, Denita enjoying some OBS and trying to keep warm around the fire.
The next morning we woke to warmer temperatures and some sunshine (which was much appreciated). We headed off up towards Leribe, Butha Buthe and then out to Fouriesburg. The tar roads from the dam towards Leribe have some of the nicest tar passes to be found anywhere. You just have to watch out for rocks in the road and ice in patches in the early morning (in the shaded areas).
Snow can be seen on the mountains around.
Filling up with juice just after the pass going out of the dam
The people at the petrol place were thawing these to animal heads for later use as they had been left outside overnight and were frozen (no need for fridges)
Some pics of the dam. You do not realize just how far the dam stretches with us riding for at least 20 to 30 km?s with the dam in sight most of the time
At one point we stopped along the side of the road to take some pics of the ice along the side of the road.
Of course Zonkel could not resist in making himself look way better than he is
From here we headed home pretty fast (no time for more pics) and had some lunch in Fouriesburg, from there we head past Reitz and onto home.
Some action shots on the way home:
Zonkel leaning on the tank in that long road riding style
Popipants looking relaxed
When I got home at about 18h30, I jumped straight in the bath and thawed for at least an hour, man it was the best feeling on earth to be warm again.
This trip has to be one of the trips I will never forget. Thanks to Zonel and Popipants for making a truly memorable trip with good fun at all times.
