South Africa + Lesotho

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After Cape Town we were ready for a bit of "real Africa" so headed into Lesotho... a kingdom in the heart of South African territory which managed to ward off colonisation, thanks partly due to the mountanous terrain... immediately we sensed a massive contrast from South Africa, with a more relaxed pace of life and simple subsistense living and we were less paranoid about getting carjacked at every junction!

We started in Malealea, with breathtaking views from every angle and went on a horse ride through the mountains and an improtue pub crawl in the village, where a coloured flag (or more acurately plastic bag) indicates that they have some home brew on offer, varying from maize beer, served in washed out bean tins to local wine served in what ever bottles they can find!






Lesotho, known as 'the kingdom in the sky' has the highest low point of any country in the world, which basically means that in winter (when we we there) it is fecking freezing, one night it was -13C, which is particuarlly bad when the lodge doesnt supply bedding!! The local people are generally found wrapped in blankets, whether herding sheep or on horseback

We also visited Simonkong to see the waterfall and drove to Katse dam for more spectacular scenery...






Lesotho was amazing but the cold was really getting to us, so we headed North to Nelspruit and Kruger Park, narrowly avoiding spending the night in a prison cell and going to court for speeding... departing instead with a hefty fine (police here are very strict on speeding, fair enough... but drink driving is a social norm)

This was my second visit to Kruger park, the first time I somehow managed to see no lions.. this time we saw about 30!! including a couple of sightings within touching distance and a pride of about a dozen feasting on a buffalo! apparantly leopard are rare to spot, but we saw 2 (taking our tally to 7 on this trip and my personal tally to 9... sorry Hugo + Hanneke, couldnt resist it!) one of which was feeding on an impala in a tree!



We have since returned to Nelspruit, ready to head to Swaziland and into Mozambique for a bit of sun... to get back the tan which has disappeared over the last month in Saffa!!

Photos are uploaded at the following location:

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