After Swaziland, my route continued south, through the south african province called Kwazulu Natal or Zululand, home of the Zulu and land of the battlefields of the Anglo-Zulu war.

natal 1

natal 2

I eventually reached the coast of the indian ocean near Ste Lucia, a popular destination for wildlife watching.

indian ocean 1

indian ocean 2

Then, I rode north-west to the Drankesberg mountains, which are the highest mountains in Southern Africa and make the natural border between South Africa and the land locked kingdom of Lesotho.

drakensberg 1

amphitheatre 1

amphitheatre 2

amphitheatre 3

drakensberg 2

drakensberg 2

drakensberg 2

One of the hardest way to drive into Lesotho is the steep and remote Sani pass. The road first goes gently up the valley...

sani pass 1

sani pass 2

...than climb the last part of the mountain on a dozen of very sharp hair-pins. Here the bike is stucked in the steep rocks.

sani pass 3

sani pass 4

I eventually reached the top of the pass after 30 minutes fighting with the bike and entered Lesotho, the kingdom in the clouds.

sani pass 5

Behind the mountains are the lesotho highlands...

lesotho highs 1

lesotho highs 2

lesotho highs 3

lesotho highs 4

...and the highest 'tar' road in southern africa (if you look carefully you can see few little remains of tar on the side of the road).

lesotho highs 5

Only to practise the skills i developped in eastern europe 6 months ago, i ve been sent some snow.

lesotho highs 6

lesotho lowlands 1

Lesotho and South Africa collaborates on a big water scheme project. The results is 2 huge dams in Lesotho and a couple of rivers being diverted to supply water to dry provinces of south africa.

lesotho highs 7

lesotho highs 8

lesotho highs 9

Going to the west of Lesotho, the roads go slowly down again.

lesotho lowlands 2

lesotho lowlands 3

lesotho lowlands 4

lesotho lowlands 5