September 17

Had a lovely sleep in our little rounduvel. The fire had been lit at 4pm and it warmed up the room beautifully. It had a thatched roof, and was very cosy.
Left the Sani Pass Mountain Lodge at 8am, and headed through Lesotho. We were on the Roof of Africa Route, and we were at an elevation of over 2500 m for most of the day, peaking at 3283 m. Most was on gravel, and much was very rough, so it was a slow drive. From our departure at 8.22 we travelled 18kms by 9.15. There were major road works underway, and for about 100 km's there was a new 2 lane highway being constructed parallel to the old road we were on. It was obviously funded and supervised by the Chinese, as there were many red Chinese trucks carrying gravel, and Chinese supervisors on site along the route. We were held up for nearly half an hour at the site of a blast which had gone wrong yesterday. A couple who arrived at the Sani Pass Mountain Lodge said they waited for about three hours the previous day as the demolition engineer had used too much dynamite and brought down huge boulders over the road.

So it was slow driving along the route for most of the day. There were many settlements at the lower levels, but not higher up. The land had all been terraced, it was extremely dry. Cattle and sheep were often being watched over by a shepherd. They usually wore the traditional garb of woollen hat, heavy blanket and gumboots. The people of Lesotho are very poor. There were few vehicles anywhere, and most lived many miles from any significant settlement.

Unfortunately the air was not very clear, due to dust and the practice of burning crop land - so the stunning Drakensburg Mountains were not clearly visible.

Around midday we started dropping our elevation, and dropped 1000m in 8 minutes.

We did not stop anywhere in Lesotho, but continued to the Caledonspoort border post, where we left Lesotho and crossed back into South Africa. Very quick to get through both border posts, no queues. It was back to better roads again in South Africa. We had an afternoon tea stop for a break - no need for lunch after our cooked breakfast, and there had also not been anywhere to stop - the afternoon tea cafe was an interesting one; we sat in the garden of what once would have been a grand house, but was now rather run down.

Our destination for the night was Ladybrand, where we stayed at the Top House B&B. His. Was once the home of a very noted citizen, and was the Top house in the town. Very spacious and lovely old rooms, comfy bed. We walked out to one of the eating houses In town for dinner; after a long wait we were served very salty chips and baby chicken, being a whole baby chicken which was very tender but very salty also.

A lovely cooked breakfast was served at 7.30 then we were back on the road. At the start we drove on a gravel road, then on the N1, and travelled 680kms. We arrived at the Cape Karoo Guesthouse in Beaufort West around 4pm. It is a lovely guest house, the rooms are beautifully appointed, and we are having dinner and breakfast here. It is 34 degrees, and a little windy outside.

Tomorrow we head towards Cape Town, to prepare for our  flights back to New Zealand!