In early 2019, on my first recce into Lesotho, Mike & I were departing
Sani Top when we met a group of hardy 4×4 blokes. ‘Where have you been? Where are you heading? There’s this gnarly pass near Sehlabathebe National Park but you guys are too heavily loaded and probably won’t make it up.” Challenge accepted.
The fact that it was past lunch, and we had no idea of where to stay or where it was, seemed to have missed us. We found Matebeng Pass on Tracks4Africa and headed out. The standout feature of the T4A map were an abundance of EXTREME DANGER symbols.
We reached the foot of the pass at dusk, after having searched local villages for fuel. It’s a tough little pass with plenty of rocks, washouts and step-ups but we reached the top by dark and descended into the black abyss without a clue of where we’d stay.
On reaching gravel roads after 9pm, we met a lone walker who directed us to a tiny bar attached to a small rural village. Having procured 750ml bottles of cold beer, the barman headed off to find ‘Mr Brown’ who would have a place for us to sleep. Half an hour later, the said Mr Brown arrived , 90 years old at least, but super cheerful. He lead us on a hike up a steep gravel track to a row of rondavels. Our new home had 2 beds, a fully equipped bathroom with no water connection, nor electricity. Mr Brown would later appear with 20 litres of water in a metal bucket for drinking and washing.
A quick ‘meal in a bag’ dinner later, we slept like the dead. The next morning, we awoke to a row of pretty rondavels, a friendly local dog, chirpy chickens and a breathtaking view over the valley below. All for a total of 100 South African rands.
Certainly not what our Wildwood clients would expect on our Lesotho / Wild Coast / Drakensberg Tours, but a highlight adventure encounter I will never forget.
The story didn’t quite end there. The following morning, we were already on our way towards Qacha’s Nek, when we realised a car was on a mission to catch us. We pulled over to discover the passenger was the barman from the village bar. He hadn’t any change the night before and was hellbent on returning it to me. (I’d paid for 2 beers with a R200 note.)
