South Africa and Lesotho: the Drakensberg and the Sani Pass

Durban to the Midlands

King Shaka International Airport to Howick, then Nottingham Road on the Midlands Meander

• Repas du soir
• Nuit : Nottingham Road (Midlands)
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Soir

Then it is half an hour to Nottingham Road, on the Midlands Meander, for a briefing on the week and a welcome dinner.

Compris

• Pick-up at King Shaka International Airport (DUR)
• Howick Falls viewpoint
• The Nelson Mandela Capture Site and its sculpture
• Welcome briefing and welcome dinner

The Midlands Meander and San rock art at Giant's Castle

Nottingham Road to Giant's Castle, then the Champagne Valley

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Champagne Valley (central Drakensberg)
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Matin

The Midlands Meander is a loose trail of potters, weavers, cheese makers and farm kitchens spread over the hills, and we give it the cool of the morning: a working craft studio and a farm deli, with time to buy. Then we drive about an hour and three quarters west, the escarpment growing on the horizon, into Giant's Castle, part of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, listed by UNESCO in 2000 for its mountains and its rock art.

Après-midi

After a sit-down lunch at the camp. Subject to the caves being open, a path of about 2 km each way (to be confirmed) follows the Bushman's River to the Main Caves, sandstone overhangs whose walls hold San paintings of eland, hunters and figures in motion, some of them centuries old. Visits to the Main Caves are guided only, at the park's set times, so the day's timing follows its schedule. Eland and bearded vultures live in the park, though sightings are never guaranteed. In the late afternoon we drive about an hour and a half north to the Champagne Valley, below Cathkin Peak, our base for two nights.

Compris

• Craft studio and farm deli on the Midlands Meander
• Giant's Castle, uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, with park fees
• Guided visit to the Main Caves San rock art, subject to the caves being open and the park's schedule and fees (unverified; a closure after a fire was reported in March 2025)
• Sit-down lunch at Giant's Castle

The Amphitheatre and the Tugela Gorge

Champagne Valley to Royal Natal and the Tugela Gorge, and back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Champagne Valley (central Drakensberg)
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Matin

We leave after breakfast, around 7:30 am, for the drive of about an hour and a quarter north through Bergville to Royal Natal, at the northern end of the park. The Amphitheatre is one of the Drakensberg's best-known sights: a basalt wall more than 5 km long between the Sentinel and the Eastern Buttress, with the Tugela River leaping off its rim after rain. The way to see it from below is the Tugela Gorge walk, about 14 km there and back on a made path through forest and along the river, ending near a short chain ladder and a view of the cascades.

Après-midi

We start by about 9 am, ahead of the day walkers and the afternoon clouds of the warmer months, with a local guide, and eat a picnic lunch by the water. Your See Sight Tours guide leads a shorter walk for anyone who prefers it.

Soir

We are back in the Champagne Valley by late afternoon, with the evening free.

Compris

• Royal Natal, uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, with park fees
• Tugela Gorge walk below the Amphitheatre with a local guide
• Picnic lunch by the river

Round the foothills to Underberg

Champagne Valley to Winterton, Mooi River and Howick, then Underberg

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Underberg
• Environ 4 h de route

Matin

The morning is slow, with time for a short walk in the Champagne Valley before we leave at about 10 am.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down stop in the Midlands, which breaks the drive in two. The second half climbs back into high, open country of farmland, with the escarpment rising ahead. We reach Underberg by mid-afternoon. The rest of the day is free: walk the village, or go up the road to Himeville and its small museum in the old fort.

Soir

Before dinner, which is your choice in town, your guide briefs you on the Sani Pass and helps you pack a small bag for two nights in Lesotho.

Compris

• Sit-down lunch in the Midlands
• Briefing on the Sani Pass and Lesotho

Activités en option

• Himeville Museum (entry fee paid locally, if open)

Up the Sani Pass into Lesotho

Underberg to Himeville and the Sani Pass, then Sani Top in Lesotho

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Sani Top (Lesotho)
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we swap our vehicle for a local 4x4 with an experienced driver for the pass. Past Himeville the road climbs a narrowing valley to the South African border post, where you get your exit stamp. Beyond it the Sani Pass climbs in tight hairpins up the face of the escarpment, rough and steep enough that only 4x4 vehicles may use it, with stops for photographs and for your driver to point out the peaks. At the top, about 2,876 m, is the Lesotho border post and a different world: treeless highland, stone huts, herders, often in blankets.

Après-midi

Lunch is at the pub on the rim, which has long called itself the highest in Africa, with the pass below the window where the weather allows. Border posts keep set hours and the pass can close in snow or storms, so the day is timed to cross well inside daylight and can change.

Soir

In the afternoon we walk out along the edge of the escarpment, then settle into a simple mountain lodge for two nights, with dinner together.

Compris

• Sani Pass by 4x4 with a local driver
• Border formalities at both posts
• Lunch at the pub at the top of the pass
• Afternoon walk on the escarpment edge
• Dinner at the lodge

Basotho villages and ponies

Sani Top, with a village walk and a drive towards Black Mountain Pass

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Sani Top (Lesotho)

Matin

After breakfast a local guide walks us to a nearby village of stone and thatch rondavels. You meet the families who live there, see how the Basotho blanket and the conical mokorotlo hat suit this climate. Then local handlers lead a Basotho pony ride of about an hour across the plateau at a walk, arranged with the village and confirmed in the written quote.

Après-midi

After lunch at the lodge the 4x4s take us west on the road towards Mokhotlong and over Black Mountain Pass, above 3,200 m, for a long view across the Maloti highlands, weather permitting. Thabana Ntlenyana, at 3,482 m the highest peak in southern Africa, rises in the same Maloti range.

Soir

The evening is at the lodge, with a sky full of stars when it is clear.

Compris

• Basotho village visit with a local guide
• Pony ride of about an hour with local handlers
• Afternoon 4x4 drive over Black Mountain Pass
• All meals at the lodge

Down the pass to the southern Berg

Sani Top down the Sani Pass to Himeville and Underberg, then Bushman's Nek

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Bushman's Nek (southern Drakensberg)
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we drive back down the Sani Pass, which looks quite different going down: the hairpins open up below you and the valley floor opens out below. Passports are stamped out of Lesotho at the top and back into South Africa at the bottom.

Après-midi

In Himeville we say goodbye to the 4x4 drivers, find our own vehicle and bags, and sit down to lunch. Then it is about 40 km south past Underberg to Bushman's Nek, a quiet valley at the southern end of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park where the cliffs of the escarpment close in. On the far side of these cliffs lies Sehlabathebe National Park in Lesotho, added to the same World Heritage site in 2013; this trip does not go in. In the late afternoon a local guide walks us up the valley along the river.

Soir

Dinner is together at the lodge.

Compris

• Sani Pass descent by 4x4, timed for the border posts' hours
• Sit-down lunch in Himeville
• Guided late-afternoon walk in the Bushman's Nek valley, with park fees
• Dinner at the lodge

Back to the coast

Bushman's Nek to Underberg and the Midlands, then King Shaka International Airport

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Environ 4 h de route

Matin

The early morning is yours: walk out along the river as the first sun hits the cliffs, or take a slow breakfast with the mountains in view. We leave at about 9:30 am for the longest road day, about 295 km and four hours of driving back to the coast: through Underberg and the farmland of the southern foothills on the R617, down to Howick, then the N3 past Pietermaritzburg and round Durban to King Shaka International Airport.

Après-midi

A sit-down lunch in the Midlands breaks the drive in two, so neither half is more than about two and a half hours. We reach the airport around 3 to 3:30 pm, and your guide sees you to the terminal. If you are joining our Kruger to the KwaZulu-Natal coast trip, or staying on in Durban, we drop you in the city instead.

Compris

• Sit-down lunch in the Midlands
• Drop-off at King Shaka International Airport (DUR) or a Durban hotel