Alan's 2 week Lesotho/South Africa Visit

-21st Mon: arrive, Barcello's, sleep/rest
-22nd Tue: breakfast at home, drive around Maseru downtown and cultural center, eat at Number 7, pick up Cameron from airport, help me teach tennis, see Maseru Mall and Tikata for Indian food, Tuesday bible study.
-23rd Wed: Drive to Malealea - hike to waterfall, ate at lodge, played table tennis.
-24th Thur: Malealea - pony trek to gorge overlook, eat traditional food with Basotho family.  Back to Maseru to eat at Piri Piri (Portuguese food) with local friends.
-25th Fri: Tsehlanyane National Park/Maliba Lodge. Hiked upper and lower trail. Ate delicious 3 course meal at lodge, then camped.
-26th Sat: Tempelhoff lion cub petting, TY weavings, Kome cave on way back. Cooked at home.
-27th Sun: Victory church, ate awesome seafood at Prima Piati. Pizza and games at Kim's.
-28th Mon: Living life brunch, Bloemfontein to fly to Cape Town

Cape town:
-29th Tue: Cape of Good Hope, Cape Point, Boulder's beach (penguins), Bo-kaap colorful houses.
-30th Wed: Franschoek (winelands), awesome pork chops at Haute Cabbrierre Restaurant.
-31st Thur: Table Mountain, briefly Castle of Good Hope, VA Waterfront, Africa Cafe (buffet tapas of all kinds of African food).
-1st Fri: Botanical Gardens, Robin Island, VA waterfront
-2nd Sat: home. :(

We tried to book the test kitchen 1 month in advance, but they were booked 3 months out.  Other notable restaurants: La Petite Ferme (Franschoek, reservation needed), Tasting Room (winelands), La Mouette (no reservation needed).

Advanced booking required: Robben Island, Table Mountain Cable Car.

Restaurants in Lesotho: Primi Piati (Italian), Barcello's (Middle Eastern/Lebanese), Tikata (Indian), Roman's Pizza, Number 7 (European?), Piri Piri (Portuguese), Regal (Indian), Peace (Chinese).

Lion Walk/Encounter

This was more crazy than I had imagined. And it's for a good cause too! Apparently there used to be 100,000 lions, now down to 30,000, so LionAlert is a group trying to rehabilitate lions and also have lion encounters to raise awareness/fundraise.

How to avoid being a lion meal

Here not only did we walk side by side with a lion and a lioness, we also got to pet it! It was incredible seeing these gigantic beasts in such proximity. Initially we were all somewhat hesitant when we saw them approach, also when they greeted each other with some ferocity, but once the trainers showed us how tame they were, we took turns petting them.

Mom and dad walking and petting the lion

We were told to only pet back and not to approach the neck/head or else bad things may happen

The sticks were meant to be a distraction tool in case they got too interested in us

Look at the camera! I was always afraid I'd accidentally walk into the lion.

At the end, they seemed like ginormous kittens - with razor sharp teeth of course. Fortunately they were well fed before they came to use, so we went away unscathed! :D

Family Lion Walk

Looks like it's getting hungry - j/k, it's just yawning.  We were actually told not to crouch down, but I guess this is an exception?

Victoria Falls

 "Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight." - David Livingstone (explorer)

David Livingstone

Arriving at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe:

From the airport, it's about a 30 minute drive to Victoria Falls town, which is right next to the falls. There are taxis and shuttles, we took a shuttle associated with our hotel for 4 people for $30 (Sheppy Shuttles, he was great). We had initially wanted to stay at the A'Zambezi Hotel, which was right next to the Zambezi River, but my mother had mistakenly booked a hotel room that was too small to fit the 4 of use, so we ended up switching to Rainbow hotel, which in the grand scheme of things, worked out even better because it was within walking distance to the Victoria Falls Park entrance (30 min) and town (5 min). In general, it's not necessary to rent a car because everything is pretty close especially on the Zimbabwe side, and there are either hotel shuttles or cheap taxi's. 

Pumba!

Baby vervet monkey getting some milk

The first day my family was really jet lagged, but I dragged my brother out to Victoria Falls park anyways. We walked to the Gorge Restaurant just to check it out and there we found the location for gorge swing and swing & slide. We were pretty amazed by the gorge, but unfortunately, you can't view the actual falls unless you pay to go inside the park.

You can see the string hanging down on the left for the gorge swing.

The next day we took the hotel shuttle to Victoria Falls Park ($30/adult, $15/child, $25 for SADC).  The park was very well organized and touristy, so there was a specific cement path that you take with about 20 viewpoints. The whole thing took us about 2 hrs to go from one end to the other including stopping to take pictures and mess around. But be warned, at various viewpoints, the water was sooooooo misty that it was like taking a shower. By the end we were all soaked. Some people had poncho's, but since it was a hot summer day (February), we enjoyed the shower.

First scenic view: Cataract Falls

Cataract Falls

 The first viewpoint on the west was Cataract Viewpoint, that was so named for one particular fall on the west. It was also the first place David Livingstone saw Victoria Falls and couldn't believe his eyes. Unfortunately, because we went when the water was super high, it was very misty and you can only see part of the falls from any one viewpoint.

Brother trying to take in some mist

At some points it was so misty you can't see anything

The rest is obscured by the mist. At some areas it was difficult even to see the falls on the very opposite side just because of how misty it was. One tourist even said we came on a good  day when it wasn't so misty. Yikes!

Open pasture view of falls

Rainbow falls area of Victoria Falls

Zambia side of Vic Falls

Danger Point view point

There were so many activities we could have done, but my family decided on some of the tamer things: Lion Walk/Encounter and Livingstone Island/Angel's Pool. Here's a more comprehensive list of activities: Shearwater Victoria Falls. Unfortunately a few companies dominate here so the activities are pretty pricey.


Livingstone Island/Angel's Pool:
During the high water season, access to Devil's pool is flooded and the current is too high, so the typical Livingstone Island visit is transferred to Angel's Pool, which is pretty much the same concept of getting into a pool right at the edge of the falls, but maybe two feet back.

Can you spot the hippo? Hope it doesn't go farther or else it's certain doom down Vic Falls!

The tour started at the Avani Hotel on the Zambia side (our tour included transport from our hotel), and we took a boat to Livingstone Island. After passing a hippo, we came to the island where we had a chance to change, and then the guide took us to the pool. We were amazed that he was hopping along the rocks on the very edge of the falls! It was a rather quick dip in the pool, but the guide took a lot of pictures and a video of our dip.

Then to our horror, he jumped off the edge! But then a few seconds later, we see his head pop back up, and we realize there is actually another pool a few feet down that we can't see unless we are standing closer. Wow, what a crazy guy!

We then walked along the edge of the pool (farther back) to another view point where guide pointed towards Devil's pool and showed us how it was completely flooded. We then took a few more pictures of the beautiful rainbow created by the falls. 

Zimbabwe Side Vs. Zambia Side:
We mostly spent our time on the Zimbabwe side because we heard it was where you can view most of the falls, whereas the Zambia side was where the water came down (so you were on top of the falls). It's not entirely correct, because the Zambia side you can actually see 1/3 (almost 1/2) of the falls if the water is high. So it's all season dependent:

Zambia side: just crossed Knife-Edge Bridge, so I was SUPER soaked.

View of Danger Point on Zimbabwe side.

High water season: I'd recommend going to the Zambia side because you can have a good view of the falls without as much mist obscuring your view (not as much water here), and you can experience knife-edge bridge, boiling pot hike down to the gorge, and Livingstone Island/Angel pool (Devil's pool equivalent for high water time).

Panaroma of the Zambia side. You can see the Zimbabwe side on the left.

Beautiful yellow flowers in the summer (February).

Low water season: I'd recommend going to Zimbabwe side because otherwise a lot of the waterfall that you can see from the Zambia side is dried off, and it's difficult to appreciate the grandeur of it without seeing the fall from the opposite side of the gorge from where the water falls down.

On the way down to the boiling point, we encountered some road blockage.

The bridge connecting Zambia and Zimbabwe

The Boiling Point - so named because the water here swirls like a boiling pot. Bridge connecting Zambia and Zimbabwe on left and you can barely see Vic Falls on the right.

On the Zambia side you can also do a short 1hr round trip hike down to the gorge called the Boiling Point (see pics).  There's another hike down to the bottom of Vic Falls, but in high water season (about Feb-July), the water is too high to safely go on that guided tour.

Maliba Lodge

Maliba Lodge (T'selanyane National Park):
We had a one night stay at this national park, mainly known for its five star hotel, Maliba Lodge. It's mainly for enjoyment of the beautiful comforts of this western hotel but since we didn't feel like shelling out $200 plus, we decided to camp. But we still got to enjoy the views and toilets at the lodge!

We got there in the afternoon, took about 3 hrs from Maseru. We decided on a shorter easier hike, so we did the Upper and Lower trail loop that goes through the Black Pools (3 hr round trip). We started from our campsite/river huts and up to Maliba lodge, then continued to walk along half way up the mountain, between some beautifully green, lush mountain peaks. There was an option for a scramble to the top of one of the peaks, but we didn't have the time or stamina.

The hike was very easy overall with mild elevation change, mostly in the first 500 meters. The black pools were a series of pools formed by a small river. We tried to get in the water, but only got our feet wet as the water was freezing cold! Refreshing none the less. The hikes back crosses a few streams as well, and mainly followed the river in the valley back to the river huts.

Afterwards we decided to go for a nice hot dinner at the lodge we didn't realize we were in for a full 3 course meal with a palate cleanser too! It was a meal fit for a king. But then afterwards, we had to go back to our tent. The contrast was too hilarious. ...

Sani Pass and Durban

 Drive to the north east part of Lesotho. Not a lot to do here, but there are amazing views down to South Africa. You can see how Lesotho ended up being a country within South Africa - because it's so elevated compared to the surrounding landscape in South Africa. 

Road up Sani Pass on South Africa side.

Durban

Haha, there's a Beverly Hills in Durban S africa

And a Sea World!

Super nice lady invited us to her home and gave us saris!

Sehlabathebe National Park, Lesotho

Beautiful, and one of the most isolated places I've ever been.  Really a must do if you are in Lesotho and have the ability to go across the country, but it's quite a drive. 

Kind of an insane trip in a very short time: 3 days, 4 hours on paved road, then another 4 hours on dirt road (partly b/c we went the wrong way for 30 min). Considering we didn't have reception and we were in the middle of nowhere, we were very blessed to not have gotten into car trouble! 

We couldn't get a room at the hotel at the Lesotho Sehlabathebe Park headquarters, so we had to camp the first night. It rained, so it was a bit uncomfortable. But we managed with our canned tuna and bread. 

The hotel

Prehistoric rock paintings

The next day, we got 2 tour guides to lead us to the cave that people usually sleep over in. I didn't realize they were leading us to the hole in the fence between Lesotho and South Africa! We climbed over, and then they pointed us in the general direction of the cave, and we parted ways. 

Our guides

The Cave

We found the cave ok, and decided to leave our things there to explore. But we were afraid there were monkeys that would take our things, so we covered our bags with rocks. As we were hiking down the mountain, we noticed some guys on horses going towards the cave. We were suspicious, so we went back to the cave. We found that one of the guys had actually taken C's bag/sleeping bag! He was South African park ranger, and claimed he was taking it b/c he thought someone left it there. We weren't really supposed to be there, so when he asked what we were planning to do, we said we were just exploring and we'll be heading back soon. They believed us fortunately they left. They never found my bag b/c it was so well concealed in the rock pile. Haha! 

After they left, we explored around the cave some more. And we didn't see another human being until we went back to the headquarter. 

Sunset from the cave

We took the most memorable showers ever: with water dripping from the top of the cave. 

In the evening, it was very windy, but we managed to make a fire and keep ourselves warm. Ate more tuna and bread. After admiring some stars, we went to sleep on the straw "beds." (People in the past had laid down stones with straw in the middle). 

We woke up before sunrise, went to the edge of the earth - well, actually just cliff looking down to South Africa. And we watched the amazing sunrise. 

On our way back to Lesotho, we explored the interesting rock structures. 

View of the Three Bushman: 

There was interesting flora:

And rock shelters where people used to live:

On the way there, it was all foggy, and we didn't realize we were driving on the side of a cliff! Also didn't realize we passed within 10 feet of the South Africa-Lesotho border control. 

On the way back, we decided to try a different route: go to South Africa, and come back to Lesotho on paved road. Longer drive, but much smoother. Was it faster?...not sure. At least we didn't get lost! 

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Sehlabathebe is part of the Maloti-Drakensburg World Heritage Site, within the Maloti Mountains in Qacha's Nek District, Lesotho.  

The way from Maseru, Lesotho is the most common route, but there are ways from Sani Pass, and a 3 day way on foot from there: 

More information about visiting, hiking, wildlife, etc: 

https://www.visitlesotho.travel/explore/national-parks-and-nature-reserves/sehlabathebe