South Africa and Lesotho

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South Africa and Lesotho
(All hostel recommendations etc are at the end of this blog)

So after a 24hr bus ride while being subjected to some hideously over-the-top religious films we arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, where we stayed with some mates (and their nutty cat!) for five days. It was definitely nice to be back to the creature comforts and Stene and Mandy did an excellent job of showing us the sights and sounds: Simons bay, penguins, Capes Argulus, Point and New Hope, a view of Table Mountain from their flat and lots more. We couldn't have asked for much more, except for some good weather!


South Africa is a strange contrast to the rest of Africa. It's not so much TIA as ITA: Is This Africa? This is partly to do with the wet and cold winter weather and largely to do with it's European feel but, it was reassuringly African with its usual foibles and fair sprinkling of ineptitude!

We zoomed up from Cape Town to Port St John in the Transkei for the annual Sardine run which we managed to semi hit. The idea is that while the sardines migrate up the coast and the dolphins round them up to the surface in such a way that there is a general feeding frenzy of all sorts of marine life, we jump in, in a wet suit and do our best not to look sardine-like and get eaten! We didn't hit it full pelt unfortunately but, still managed to jump in with hump backs, dolphins and, armed only with a stick, several types of rather inquisitive sharks! - It's not every day you hear the phrase 'Do you want to go play with the sharks?' And it's rather less often that subsequently you see nine perfectly sane people roll off the boat into the fin infested water!


After a brief stint a little down the coast where we stayed in a local's cottage for free (we only had to pay the maid!!) and got rather drunk, we headed in land to Hogsback. This is one of the many places where Tolkein is supposed to have got his inspirations...we went hiking, took in the waterfalls, took some silly photos, found a random bath at a view point and managed to wangle lots of free shots at the bar before moving onto Jeffrey's Bay.



Jeffrey's Bay is a summer town but, was pleasant enough with a good hostel and bar and some cheap surf shops. We therefore got rather tipsy and watched the European Cup Final (Congrats to all my Spanish comrades - I was cheering you on between the power cuts)! Not content with the dusky and copper sharks we'd been free diving with, we headed via very pretty Wilderness and along the garden route to Hermanus to do some cage diving with the Great Whites!



Next stop was Stellenbosch, S.Africa's wine Region which, even in the poop weather you can't help but like (and that's not just because of the wine)! The area is stunning and the town is lots of fun even when the hoards of students aren't there, as we found out! As such we headed into the surrounding area's wineries for wine tasting rather hungover having avoided a vom-over by way of a strawberry cornetto!


We headed to a number of vineyards including one which mixed the wine tasting with chocolate tasting which, was brilliant, before heading back to Cape Town to meet up with Stene and Mandy again for some more fun and frolics (albeit in the rain). From there, we headed to Oustshoorn but, it was still raining which limited the options of activities so we decided that, although S.Africa is clearly a beautiful country, it was one to do in the summer and set off north in search of warmer climes!

Our first stop was a little village called Nieu Bathisida just outside Graaf Reinet where we sampled the local brewery's merchandise and which is famed for a local known as Miss Helen who, after a rather lonely life devoted herself to the arts and in particular the interaction between light and colour, culminating in her commissioning many pieces of sculpture and art involving broken glass and cement (oooh someone read the pamphlet!) To us her legacy (in the nicest possible way) looked a bit like a playschool display with would-be papier mache owls in the garden but, i am assured it was all very impressive for the time period!


From here we were off the Lesotho which can be described very easily in two words: 'Stunning' and 'Cold'! Our first stop in 'The Kingdom in the Sky' was Malealea where we pony trekked through the highland mountains and gorges but, where no bedding was provided in the 'backpacker' huts. I slept in 4 jumpers, joggers, two pairs of socks, a hat and gloves, wrapped myself in a blanket, climbed into my sleeping bag and clung to my hotwater bottle like Robert Mugabe to his presidency and was still beyond freezing! At -13C that is really no surprise!


However, it was still a great place, locals (understandably) wandered around in blankets and laughed when you tried to speak to them in their local language. We explored the local village and popped into the huts where various local brews of varying standards were made, all signified by a 'flag' outside their houses which was actually a plastic bag on a stick. We yet again tried to explain the concept to the locals that Jimmy and I were JUST FRIENDS. We gave up after 30mins when they still asked us when we were getting married! However, apart from the sub zero temperatures, it really felt like being back in 'Africa', which, for us, was really nice.

From Malealea we did an 'Anna and Jimmy' style detour to Samonkong via some dodgy unmapped route and wandered up to the waterfall where you can do the world's highest abseil. Having learned from the previous night, I dragged my mattress in front of the fire and slept there before we headed to Pitseng. Unfortunately, we were slightly delayed by the fact that we managed to lock the keys in the car! In both good and bad news the chef informed us that 'our car was very easy to break into' and that 'every South African knew how to break into a car' and that he would do so after he'd finished his eggs. Marvellous! Not very reassured but, very thankful not to have had to smash a window, we were on our way within the hour!

We drove to at Pitseng and on through the picturesque mountains to Katse where the dam meant the valleys were filled with deep blue lakes and there was the most half-arsed information centre ever. Then it was back over the boarder to South Africa for a very pleasant stop in Kestel before heading onto Nelspruit which, was the gateway to Kruger park and the very beautiful Blyde River Canyon.


Another eventful journey involving thick fog, almost running out of petrol again and nearly being arrested and thrown in a cell for the night for speeding we were relieved to arrive in Nelspruit in one piece and without a criminal record! We celebrated with several days at the national park, hitting a trip total of over 50 lions and bringing up our (apparently rare) leopard sightings to 7!



From here is was onto to Swaziland briefly before the last leg of our journey into Mozambique for some diving before we had to head home in August.

Full photos on http://picasaweb.google.com/JimmahW/SouthAfricaLosotho

Recommendations
In Oudtshoorn the backpackers Backpackers Paradise and Joy Riders is excellent
In Hogsback, Away with the Fairy's is very good, hospitable and with lots of information as is Fairy Knowe in Wilderness.
In Kestel the hostel called Karma is excellent. The owner is amazingly hospitable and can give lots of advice. It feels like you are staying with friends rather than in a hostel - she even has hot water bottles for every bed! It's a great stop over for either Lesotho or the Golden Gate National Park.
In Lesotho, Malealea Lodge has a great location and does some good work with the local community. The choir that sing there each night (I was dubious at first too!) are excellent. However, back packer huts do hot have bedding and it can get very cold. Bedding is charged at 20R extra putting the price each up to 120R. Aloes Guest House in Pitseng appears to be in a slightly strange location but, is really nice once you get in. Some logistics still need to be worked out there as it looks like they are renovating but, the back packer hut we stayed in had a fridge, kettle and heater all for 90R pp! The food is also good and cheap. It's a good base for heading to Katse. The Semonkong Lodge in Semonkong is set close to the nearby gorge where you can do the biggest commercial abseil in the world. While the scenery is not quite as spectacular as in Malealea (although still beautiful) the lodge is lovely with a fire place and ensuite in the cosy rondavel dorms.
In Kruger we saw the most around Satara camp. Practically all the lion sightings were here. Rhinos etc were mainly seen further south around Skukuza.

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