Sani Pass - The roof of Africa - September 15th

Sunday 14th - We all (Charles, Leslie, Richard, Therese, John and Liz) headed for Karkloof to the Karkloof Canopy Tour site. Another fine, sunny African day - everything is very dry and brown and they are desperately awaiting spring rains.
After a safety briefing, we were harnessed up and safety helmets and strong leather gloves on, then onto a ute for a short drive up into the native forest to the first platform.

So we were off on the high wires! Hooked up onto the wires, sent off zip lining. The wires were of various lengths; there were 8 sections ranging from 40 to 186 metres in length, and some were very high above the trees and crevices. A great exhilarating time was had by all. Certainly got the adrenaline flowing.

Two hours later we were all grounded. Headed to the Karkloof Falls, but due to the lack of water they were not very spectacular. Into town to a craft shop, the to Curries Post to a restaurant, Terbodore, for lunch. We were joined by Leslie's parents, a lovely couple who had just celebrated 60 years of marriage.

The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting craft and tourist shops on the Midland's Meander route, they back to the farm for a relax on the verandah as the sun set. Certainly a lovely view and very peaceful.

On Monday we left the farm just after 8am, heading to Underberg, where we stopped for morning tea at The Lemon Tree, where we had stopped on Friday - there are few places to stop and this one was lovely. We were welcomed back by the owners who remembered us from a few days ago, and congratulated us on "our" All Blacks win. The temperature was in the low 30s.  At 11.30 we set off up the Sani Pass, with John driving. While it was only 33kms from Underberg, it took 2&1/2 hours. We stopped for photos and to look at the view often, but it was also a slow road. We hit the gravel 19kms from the top, and then the speed was 5 minutes per kilometre - the reason why we hired a 4x4 wheel drive. The South African border post was 8 kilometres from the top, and we checked out of South Africa there. Then the real climb began, and finally we reached the top at 2874 metres. The Lesotho border check post was right at the top, so once stamped into Lesotho we drove the 500 metres to the Sani Mountain Lodge, where we are staying the night. Our rooms are in lovely roundvels; someone will come in and light the fire at 5pm, the generator power goes off at 10pm. It is warm so the water pipes should not freeze tonight.

Dinner is at seven, so we have time to relax and look at the view. Breakfast is between 7.30 and 9.30, then we will drive through Lesotho and back into South Africa, heading to Cape Town, from where we fly out on Friday morning (our time). We have done about 3000kms in the rental vehicle so far.