Wednesday, May 26, 2004,
Today we (my aunt Han and I) leave Clarens to go to see the lake of
the Katze dam in Lesotho. There is a dam build to create this lake and
a very long tunnel, going all the way to South Africa, near Clarens, to
provide Johannesburg with fresh drinking water.
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From Clarens we drive to Fouriesburg. I fill the tank and an extra 5
liter can I carry in a sadlebag and then we drive to the Lesotho border
At the Lesotho border
First you have to get a ticket, then a gate will open and you go
to a small cabin to pay 5 rand, then you go to the next gate and open
it with the ticket. Then you let them stamp the passports and go through
the last gate.
And then..... you enter into another world. people on horseback and using donkeys
to carry heavy loads, wagons with horses or an ox and, we are the only white
people. After a short ride we arrive in Butha-Buthe, the closest "town".
Mostly one storeyed brick or wooden houses. Everything is dusty and people
are trading food, clothes and everthing all over the street.
A village in Lesotho
Wagons instead of bakkies
Groups of children all wave as we drive by and nature is beautiful.
From Butha-Buthe we drive to Leribe and then, on the only tar road in this
part of the country, to Pitseng.
After Pitseng, we cross a gate and now the real mountains begin. The Harley
has to work hard now. This is how motorcycling was intended to be !!
On the way to the mountains
This is the kind of road I like!
We drive very high in the mountains and I would like to make a hundred
pictures. The views are beautifull so sometimes we stop, to enjoy this
great scenery
Great view, high in the mountains
The riding gets better and better, almost no straights, just curves, just
the way I like it.
Here you also use the sides of your tires ;-)
Since we left Leribe, we haven't seen a gas station so we ask a man who
was walking down the road if he knows a gas station but he soesn't. We have
only 5 liter spare gas so we decide to drive until there is al little
more then 1/4 left in the tank.
We have already past a bridge over the lake behind the Katze dam but after
a while, when there is still no gas station we have to go back. It is
also getting late and we would not like to drive here at dark!
Asking for a gas station
This is the lake of the Katze dam!
Again, we enjoy driving this beautifull roads but when we drive
through the villages, the children are coming home from school so
we see thousands of children walking on the road. Most of them wave but
some of them throw stones or sticks and I get hit by a stone on my hand.
I'm glad I'm wearing motorcycle gloves so it hurts just a bit and that
he didn't hit the tank or the headlight.
On the way back we stop for a coffee at the vissor center, a nice round
building with great views while drinking your coffee.
The sun is already low when we cross the border again and after a quick
ride we are back in Clarens.
Lesotho is a beautifull country and I will sure come back one day,
but then, I'll try to get an all road bike like a BMW GS or an
Yamaha XT600 because most of the roads in Lesotho are dirt roads.
If you like a little adventure (no gas stations, no bike shops, stone
throwing children) you will be rewarded with great roads and stunning
views.
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