TRAVEL SCENE | ADV TRAVELBUG
Sandra and Fiona are ADV Travel Bug. They crown their stay in southern Africa with an adventurous tour through the Kingdom of Lesotho, high in the mountains.
After travelling the entire west coast of Africa, we could hardly wait to arrive in Cape Town. But about 150 kilometres from our destination, Momo, our Tiger 900 Rally Pro, broke down. The clutch actuator was faulty and had to be replaced.
Momo on the back of a pick-up truck was not what we had in mind for our arrival in Cape Town. But we were glad that the fault had not occurred a few weeks earlier in a remote part of Namibia and that we were able to get help from the Triumph dealer easily.
South Africa can be pretty cold in winter. But we were lucky to experience sunny weather and blue skies, despite the icy wind. A big highlight was the drive over the Sani Pass to Lesotho. The high-altitude kingdom with its hilly landscape and the rich culture of its inhabitants is the jewel of southern Africa.
When we set off for the Sani Pass, I was quite nervous. There were a few small water crossings at the foot of the pass, and the gravel roads were littered with large stones that I had to ride carefully around. More than once our studded tyres came pretty close to the edge of the abyss on the rough track. Now the narrow serpentines with gradients of up to 25% lay ahead of us. The route looked breath-taking, but also a little intimidating. Once we tackled these crazy hairpin bends, there was no turning back: even the ascent was a big challenge, but the thought of having to descend the difficult track again was terrifying. So we pushed through and cheered when we reached the top of the Sani Pass – the two of us on the fully loaded bike!
Lesotho is a beautiful country to visit: impressive mountain roads, friendly people wrapped in colourful blankets and remote villages with traditional huts scattered across the highlands. There are countless off-road trails here, but after the Sani Pass I was glad to be able to stay on the paved mountain roads. After climbing and descending steep climbs for hours, the rear brake suddenly failed. I had to rely solely on the front brake, which, given our heavily laden motorbike, left me feeling quite nervous.
We arrived at a hotel shortly before sunset, completely exhausted. As we were eating dinner, Wessel, a former Dakar rider, joined us. He had noticed our Tiger in front of the hotel and couldn't believe that two women were travelling on the impressive bike.
When he heard about our problem, he spontaneously offered his help and managed to bleed the brakes. As so often on our travels, we had the feeling that things were simply falling into place for us. We were eternally grateful that we had found Wessel at the right moment, and Wessel was happy that he was able to help two travellers.
Our time in Lesotho flew by, and soon we were poring over our plans for the rest of the trip. The sadness of saying goodbye to southern Africa was soon outweighed by the huge anticipation of the magnificent landscapes of East Africa.
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