Yesterday was the day we did the Sani Pass for the 2nd time. We last did it in 2019 (just before Covid struck) and at the time we had purposed to do it again. Where we were staying was just over an hour to the foot of the Sani Pass. We agreed to leave early (6:30am) so that we got the best driving conditions and the morning light. There were patches of mist in the lower lying areas as we headed our way to the Sani Pass and I hoped we would be above it quickly (which we were).

The road from about 3 kms past the Premier Resort Sani Pass (we stayed there last time) used to be dirt road and they were working on tarring it in 2019. It is now a tar road all the way to the SA border post which obviously makes it a very easy drive. We got to the border post at around 7:45am and once we did the passport formalities (which went very quickly) we started on the pass proper. It was much rockier and looser in the lower section than when we did it last in 2019 but none of us had any trouble at all (we have the Beast – Toyota Landcruiser; B has a Toyota Fortuner and A has a Landrover).

We stopped at the same place we did previously about half way up and then we stopped again for coffee and biscuits just before the switchbacks. The switchbacks were not as difficult to drive than the previous time. The road might be slightly less rocky or we might just be more experienced in doing the drive. We did also stop relatively early on to ID two Bearded Vultures (they are a special for the pass). The bird life was very quite unfortunately and we hardly saw anything else until we got right to the top. The dramatic views remain though.

At the top we stopped just short of the Lesotho border to do some birding and managed to add quite a few of the specials. We then did Lesotho passport control and then headed for a drink at the highest pub in Africa at 2874 meters. It is a bit of a tradition to have a beer at the top and B, A and I did precisely that (we did all get some toasted sandwiches too). We had gone up the pass in near perfect weather but it was starting to cloud over by the time we got to the top and it was a cool 14 degrees C.

We left the pub and headed further into Lesotho at around 11:30 am. We are staying at Afriski Mountain Resort which was about a 2 hour drive. The driving is very slow and windy (as it a very twisty road not as in the way the wind blows – English is a stupid language!). The highest point we got to was 3250m above sea level. To give you an idea, Jungfraujoch (in Switzerland) which is known as the top of Europe is at 3450m. We all battled with wanting to fall asleep on the 2-hour drive to the resort. H nodded off a few times and talking to the others, they experienced the same effect. It seems the altitude really was affecting us all. Fortunately none of the drivers fell asleep and we made it safely to Afriski.

Afriski has had some ownership issues and so we were concerned about what state the accommodation would be in but we were pleasantly surprised by the how nice the chalet was and well appointed. We have been drawing names to see who gets what rooms always and this time H and I got the best room (we actually drew last so it was the others that chose poorly). We offloaded everything and then someone checked the hot water and we realised there was none. B went back to reception to complain and the maintenance guy came quickly and opened the distribution board and it was smoking. B & I had opened it earlier and smelt a funny smell but there wasn’t smoke at that point. The guy immediately turned off all the electricity and B went back to reception to insist we get another chalet because we could see it wouldn’t be fixed quickly. Fortunately they did have another one and so we headed to that one.

Everyone wanted to re-draw rooms (jokingly) but we decided to let people chose by their original numbers that we drew which meant H and I could select the en-suite. This chalet had 5 bedrooms with 3 bathrooms which meant we could use the one with bunk beds for our storage. It is however not as nice as the original one especially in terms of living area (the original one for instance had a dishwasher). We checked the hot water and no hot water again! And no gas working for the fireplace or the stove. So back to reception B & I went and complained again and the lady called maintenance. He said the geyser wasn’t turned on underneath the house and that the gas was empty (which we had already figured out). He did fix both but we never got hot water until this morning (loadshedding started at 5pm and might have affected the heating up of the water).

We did a braai last night but it was pretty chilly outside – 8 degrees at 7pm – and the temperature dropped to 3 degrees overnight. We were all pretty tired and headed to our bedrooms at just after 8:30pm. The drive up the Sani Pass, to Afriski and the packing and unpacking, change of chalets etc had seemingly tired everyone out. It is also why I never posted yesterday.

Until later today (assuming I have the energy to post!)

P, H, B (for all the backwards and forwards to get our accommodation sorted), S, A (for braaiing last night in the freezing cold with substandard facilities), R, J & O (that ice in the red wine thing is just sticking in my memory)