Sani Pass and Lesotho trip 2013

Hi All.

Today I do a photo essay on our bellydance trip into the Drakensberg Mountains, up Sani Pass and into Lesotho last year.

As hosts of Kristine Adams' Durban Leg of her SA portion of her world tour, Ioleen and I , together with our Durban Tribal Collective cohorts Benni and Sam, and fellow dancer from Joburg Heather, decided to show Kristine some of KZN and Lesotho.

Sani Pass is only a few hours away from where we stay, so we woke up really early to drive up and be ready for our tour which started at 9am.

I love the Berg and we had a great Guide Matthew...such a funny guy, slightly strange,but really informative and I give him kudos for putting up with 6 Bellydancers for a day.

Our Ride for the day- let me tell you Landy's are NOT the most comfy car to ride in up a bumpy , windy mountain pass  hehe.

All of us (including Ioleen just peeking on the edge) ready for our trip. L-R: Benni , Sam, Me, Kristine, Heather, Ioleen.

Here is some info on Sani Pass, so you can see what I mean by bumpy and windy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sani_Pass

The first part of the trip happens in The Drakensberg Mountains (Tolkien's original inspiration for the hobbit and Lord of The Rings scenery). It is one of my favourite places, so serene, beautiful and majestic.

 You can see the road we were driving up just peeking from between  the mountain.

 A viewsite on the way up.

Loving the girls trip and the sisterhood of dance :D

 As we got closer to the top the mist came rolling down... at the lesotho border it was thick.

We made it to the top of the Pass. That is pretty flippin high!

Part of the tour was going further into Lesotho into the Maluti Mountains. It was like being in another world... so stark, and barren compared to the greenery of The Berg on the other side. It was Beautiful. 

At one stage it felt like we were on the moon. (That's our vehicle in the distance).

 We visted a local Basotho lady in her home.

 She made THE most delicious beer bread (made from local maize beer), and we bought some for our journey home.

The kids came to say hi, all warmly and brightly dressed.

We then had one of THE most special experiences ever!

As part of her tour Kristine is documenting ATS™ around the world by taking videos of dancers in their local places. We decided this trip would be a great video op, and boy were we right! We saw some local muscians playing and decided we had to accompany them.

This we got on video and you can find it here
Makes me smile whenever I watch it.

 All the Muscians and kids watching the video of themselves.

Our wonderful collaborators- The Basotho people!

On the way back we saw this guy- a shepherd in a typical Basotho blanket.

 

  Our last stop on the way back down was at the Sani-Top Pub. The highest pub in Africa.

 Enjoying our beverages on a mountain.

 Since the last time I was there in 2011 the pub has allowed patrons to make their mark on the walls of the establishment. Here Kristine marks her Africa stop of her world tour!

 Me trying to find  a clear spot to make my mark!

Here we go... for prosperity!

We stayed overnight at the bottom of the pass at the Sani  Lodge Backpackers. A place I would recommend to anyone looking for reasonable accommodation for Sani. I have stayed there twice now and have been happy both times. It is well-run, comfortable and clean. www.sanilodge.co.za .

Was an amazing trip (and will blog more about our trip back home via the Buddhist retreat centre in Ixopo soon). I really loved bonding with everyone and our Durban Tribal Collective is such a special group to me. Was lovely to really get to know Heather from Joburg as well.. a kindred spirit in Dance. Kristine taught us so much on her trip and I look forward to seeing all the adventures she gets up to.

Thanks for joining me on our adventure up a mountain.

love and shimmies