There are few countries in the southern reaches of Africa as off-the-beaten-track as little Lesotho. Why? Well, for starters, it’s Landlocked and entirely encompassed by the popular lands of South Africa the country, meaning it’s not exactly the easiest place to get to. And then there’s its veneer, spiked for the most part by impenetrable mountains of stark rock and sweeping plateaus of dusty sandstone – not the easiest place to navigate! But with Lesotho’s difficulties so too come its beauties.
The backcountry is wild and primeval. Sweeping grass plains are broken only by the occasional peppering of thatched San villages. The great mountain rivers are only just being tamed by even greater mountain dams. There are awesome waterfalls or valley panoramas around every corner, and the trekking – well, the trekking is simply to-die-for!
Lets explore the best places to visit in Lesotho:
Katse Botanical Garden
Katse Botanical Garden was originally established to protect the spiral aloes displaced from the dam’s construction. It has flourished to include gravel, hillside trails passing via a rock garden, indigenous flowers, a medicinal section and a dam viewpoint. A plant-propagation project takes place in the greenhouse.
Tse’hlanyane National Park
This National Park is as underrated as it is underused. This is the largest park in Lesotho and no other place is about as far away from it all as Ts’ehlanyane.This Lesotho Northern Park protects a beautiful high-altitude, 5600-hectare patch of rugged wilderness, including one of Lesotho’s only stands of indigenous forest with a number of rare undergrowth plants that are unique to this woodland habitat.
Maletsunyane / Semonkong Falls
Semonkong in itself is a popular attraction, as it is home to the Semonkong Falls, also known as the Maletsunyane Falls, the highest single drop in southern Africa and offers some spectacular unspoilt scenery. This picturesque waterfall is easily accessible from Semonkong by a five-kilometre walk along the Maletsunyane River, where you will have to opportunity of witnessing the river cascade 204meters into a tranquil swimmable pool below.While truly spectacular in summer when the water flow is highest, in winter the water freezes, spraying the rocks with ice and forming a stunning ice cage over the pool.
Maseru
Slowly being reconstructed after a period of upheaval in the late 90s, the town is now a charming and characterful place to while away a few days.The most noticeable landmark has to be the appropriately-named Basotho Hat, which is actually a gift shop selling traditional Basotho arts and crafts.
Katse Dam
Blocking the meanders of the Malibamat’so River as it flows down from the cold highlands of the country, the Katse Dam once reigned supreme as the largest of its kind in all of Africa.And while that superlative has been taken by the Tekezé Dam of Ethiopia, there’s no question that this dramatic wall of concrete and steel remains one of the continent’s real engineering wonders.Surrounded by grass-topped mountains and undulating peaks, it clocks up a whopping 185 meters in height and comes in at nearly 2,000 meters above sea level!
Bokong
Nestled between the dramatic mountains just to the west of the aforementioned Katse Dam, the little hill town of Bokong is a great place to wax up the walking boots and hit the trails of central Lesotho.In the immediate vicinity, visitors will be able to discover the likes of the Lepaqoa Waterfall, crashing over the escarpments of rock that define Lesotho’s highlands in plumes of mist and steam.The surrounding Bokong Nature Reserve is also a real draw.