Lesotho + Drakensberg, South Africa

Where We Be

You can enjoy beer with a view at Sani Mountain Lodge -- "The Highest Pub in Africa"

Lesotho + Drakensberg, South Africa

A trip to the top of Sani Pass lets you quaff a
beer at the highest pub in Africa while seeing
the Sky Kingdom to boot. What's not to like!

Let's be honest, Lesotho isn't on most people's
radars as a travel destination per se, but it's an
easy add-on as a day trip from Underberg, a
small town three hours west of Durban in what
locals call "the Berg" (Drakensberg). From here
you can join a full-day tour with Sani Pass Tours
for ~$55 per person. You could drive yourself to
the top of the pass -- but be forewarned, 8 km
(5 mi) of the road is 4WD only and extremely
rough in places. Why not save the wear and
tear on your vehicle and go up (and down) with
an experienced driver instead? You'll get the
chance to see a seldom-visited mountain
country, enjoy panoramic views from the pub's
deck, taste locally stone-baked borotho bread,
and even (in winter) have a snowball fight.

Our launching-off point for these adventures is
Lake Naverone, a "Berg" retreat about half an
hour from Underberg that offers self-catering
cottages in a beautiful mountain setting, as the
pictures below demonstrate.

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Robin stays warm in her wool cap...

It's no big deal for us, of course, being from Colorado -- but for our fellow passengers it's the highlight
of their trip. One man from Durban tells us he's never seen snow before -- and he's seventy years old.

Further up the road, we all tumble out of the vehicle and play in the snow

The local takes us inside a nearby hut, where he removes coals from the top of a pan
and reveals delicious stone-baked bread, which he cuts into pieces and shares with us

The stone wall surrounding this hut provides a "kraal" for livestock

Lesotho fully paved its part of the road
years ago, with help from the Chinese

The view at the top honestly isn't much to get excited about (2873 m / 9436 ft)

Dress in layers -- and don't forget your passport

The road gets worse the higher up you go

Looking down the valley at the snaking road up to Sani Pass

Traction is difficult for anything other than a true 4WD

While most of the route to Sani Pass is now paved,
the parts that aren't can be quite rough