Lesotho

Maseru — the capital of Lesotho (the Kingdom in the Sky — a landlocked country entirely surrounded by South Africa, the only country in the world situated entirely above 1,000m elevation, population 2.2 million — the highest minimum elevation of any country on earth) with the Maseru Craft Centre (the finest collection of Basotho traditional crafts — the distinctive woven hats and blankets that are the national dress) and the Royal Palace.

💡 Lesotho is the only country in the world entirely above 1,000m elevation — the lowest point is the Senqu (Orange) River valley at 1,400m, the highest is Thabana Ntlenyana at 3,482m. This extreme altitude is the result of the Lesotho Highlands — a plateau of ancient basalt lava flows that has been eroded into a complex of mountain peaks, gorges and valleys. The country sits on the highest point of the Great Escarpment.

Thaba Bosiu (the “Mountain at Night” — a flat-topped sandstone mesa 25km east of Maseru, the mountain fortress from which King Moshoeshoe I (1786–1870) forged the Basotho nation, repelling Zulu, Ndebele, Boer and British attacks from his impregnable plateau stronghold between 1820 and 1867 — the most important historical site in Lesotho and one of the most significant nation-founding sites in African history).

💡 Moshoeshoe I (1786–1870, the founding king of the Basotho nation) was one of the most diplomatically skilled African leaders of the 19th century — he forged a new nation from refugees fleeing the Mfecane (the wars caused by Zulu expansion), built an impregnable mountain fortress at Thaba Bosiu, defeated Zulu, Boer and British attacks, negotiated the protectorate relationship with Britain that saved Lesotho from annexation by South Africa, and died in 1870 leaving a nation that has survived intact to the present day.

Semonkong (“Place of Smoke”, a village in the highlands 120km from Maseru) — the Maletsunyane Falls (192m — the highest single-drop waterfall in southern Africa, a sheer plunge of the Maletsunyane River into a basalt gorge, the site of the world’s longest commercially operated abseil: 204m straight down the face of the falls, operated by Semonkong Lodge) and the surrounding highland plateau.

💡 The Maletsunyane Falls abseil (204m — the longest commercial single-drop abseil in the world, down the cliff face adjacent to the waterfall) has been operated by Semonkong Lodge since 1996. Participants descend by rope past the waterfall, arriving at the base of the gorge and then hiking out. The combination of the 192m waterfall and the 204m abseil makes Semonkong the most dramatic adventure destination in Lesotho.

Afriski (the only ski resort in southern Africa — at 3,222m on the Mahlasela Pass in the Maluti Mountains, operating June–August when Lesotho’s highlands receive reliable snowfall, with a 1km groomed ski run, snowboarding, snow tubing, an ice rink and the highest altitude pub in Africa — the Powder Room Bar at 3,222m — the only place in Africa outside of Kenya’s Mount Kenya where reliable natural snow falls on a regular basis).

💡 Afriski is the only ski resort in southern Africa and one of two in the entire continent (the other being Oukaïmeden in Morocco). The resort operates from June to August, when the Lesotho highlands receive reliable snowfall from cold fronts moving north from Antarctica. The snowfall is natural but variable; artificial snowmaking supplements it. At 3,222m, the access road is the second-highest paved road in Africa.

The Basotho pony trek (the most authentic way to experience the Lesotho highlands — the Basotho pony, a small, extremely hardy mountain horse descended from Persian and Cape Dutch stock introduced in the 19th century, is the primary transport in the roadless highland areas — 1–5 day treks from Malealea Lodge or the Semonkong area through highland villages, river crossings and mountain passes accessible only by horse or foot).

💡 The Basotho pony (an indigenous breed developed in Lesotho from the 1800s, extraordinarily hardy at altitude and on steep mountain terrain, the primary transport in the highlands of Lesotho where 70% of the country has no road) is one of the few genuinely functional horse cultures remaining in the modern world. Basotho men traditionally receive their first pony at puberty; the pony is essential for herding cattle, visiting family and accessing markets in the roadless highlands.

Sehlabathebe National Park (a remote plateau at 2,400m in the southeastern corner of Lesotho, on the border with South Africa’s Drakensberg — accessible only by 4WD or helicopter, with the finest trout fishing in Africa, prehistoric San rock paintings in caves, and a colony of bearded vultures (Gypaetus barbatus — the largest flying bird in Africa, with a wingspan of up to 2.8m) as the park’s most famous residents).

💡 The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus — the Lammergeier) that nests in Sehlabathebe is one of the rarest raptors in Africa; the Lesotho population (part of the larger Drakensberg population) is estimated at 200–400 individuals. Bearded vultures are unique among birds in that their diet is 90% bone — they carry bones to height and drop them onto rocks to shatter them, then swallow the fragments. Stomach acid strong enough to dissolve bone in 24 hours is the adaptation that enables this.

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project — specifically the Katse Dam (185m high, the second-tallest dam in Africa, the first arch dam built on a fault line — an engineering challenge solved by building a double-arch structure — part of the largest water transfer project in Africa, supplying water to the Johannesburg industrial region of South Africa and providing 40% of Lesotho’s electricity) with the Katse Botanical Garden and the view into the 180m-deep gorge. Fly from Maseru (MSU).

💡 The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP — begun 1986, transferring water from the Lesotho highlands to the water-scarce Gauteng region of South Africa through 200km of tunnels bored through the Drakensberg — provides Lesotho with its primary source of foreign exchange: the water royalties paid by South Africa fund approximately 40% of the Lesotho government’s budget. Lesotho sells the one resource it has in abundance — water — to the wealthiest region of Africa.