Despite the recent concerns expressed to us by our various hosts about the inherent dangers of hitch hiking in South Africa we had no choice today and set out from Inkosana in the Central Berg with the ambition of getting to the small town of Winterton where we would hopefully find the first of what would likely be several mini bus legs to Durban. No more than two minutes were we on the road when an elderly couple stopped to give us a ride. It turned out they were only going a few km in our direction, but we were inclined to agree with them that every little bit helps. They had just enough time before reaching their turn off to give us the usual story about not picking up hitchers, but then seeing us and ... read more

We awoke in Kestell to a wet and miserable day and instead of travelling further into the Nthn Drakensburg to The Ampitheatre, decided to just stay put. After 8 or 9 days of hectic travel we wanted somewhere to chill out and recharge our batteries and Karma was certainly the place for that. Apart from David, a young and very green German, and the two gorgeous staffies Solomon and Jess, we had the place to ourselves. From the moment we'd staggered in the previous night, Veran and Lutcho made us feel completely at home and we were sure they were glad for the company too. Veran and Lutcho are somewhat self sufficient, growing their own fresh produce, making delicious jams and chutneys and much to Danis delight, sharing a love of, and the know how to ... read more

Our sleep at the mission was possibly the best we'd had in Africa so far and we even managed a whopping lie in, 8.30am, somewhat of a record for us! We procrastinated until the last possible minute in the hope that a lift or another option might come our way before deciding on a big bus to a small junction village called Moitsupeli, which was half way back to Maseru and where we were told we could transfer via a short walk to "the other tar road" going South to a place called Malealea, supposedly the jewel of Lesotho. By doing this we figured we could minimise our backtracking as all the roads in Sthn Lesotho were dead ends, well the ones we needed were any way. Whilst waiting for the big bus to depart we ... read more

The Roma Trading Post turned out to be exactly what we needed, a sanctuary. For the next two days we used it as a base whilst we explored on foot and via mini bus the surrounding area including small villages and local markets, our favourites, but also Maseru, the capital of Lesotho only 30km away, the National University, ancient bushman rock paintings, and among other things, dinosaur footprints. As was becoming the norm in Lesotho our adventures often yielded their own small, but very random and distinct chapters. After another colossal and comfortable sleep courtesy of "The Long Way Round Lads´" mattresses, we commandeered Thiddy (that´s P Thiddy to you and I,) a local employee of the TP to guide us on the short hike to the nearby dinosaur footprints. P Thiddy had excellent English and ... read more

Once again at the crack of dawn, and with Morgan in tow, we watched an amazing sunrise then set out with the intention of hiking and hitching to the town of Mokhotlong, which at 57km away was the closest town and best chance of getting any transport towards anywhere that we might decide to go. The five hours that passed before the first car came along and gave all three of us a lift to Mok. passed in a flash. Full of energy after the previous nights big dinner and sleep in front of the fire we effortlessly hiked through the snow and over the Black Mountain range, unknowingly summitting the highest point in Southern Africa at over 3300m. The sense of adventure was unbelievable, as was the scenery. Nothing grows above about 2000m here and ... read more