Sani Pass into Lesotho

Sani Pass is the road that climbs the Drakensberg escarpment from KwaZulu-Natal into Lesotho, a mountain kingdom that lies entirely above a thousand metres and is surrounded on every side by South Africa. The reason to go is simple: you drive up a wall.

The day starts in the dark in Durban and runs up through the Midlands to Underberg, a farming town at the foot of the mountains, where you change into a four-wheel-drive vehicle. From there the road leaves the farms behind, follows a river valley into the mountains, and passes the South African border post below the pass.

Then the climb. The road takes the last of the escarpment in a stack of tight hairpins, with the drop beside you and, in winter, sometimes ice on the rock faces. Look back halfway up and the valley you drove through is already far below. Your driver takes it slowly, which is both the safe way and the best way to look.

At the top is the Lesotho border post, a stamp in your passport, and a different country: high, treeless grassland, a cold wind, stone houses with thatched roofs, and shepherds wrapped in the woollen blankets the Basotho wear against the weather. You visit a village and are welcomed into a family’s home, and there is usually something to taste. Ask about the blankets: the patterns are not just decoration.

Lunch is at the pub on the edge of the escarpment, which likes to call itself the highest in Africa. Whatever the truth of that, the view back down the hairpins and out over the Drakensberg is the reason to take the table by the window. Then the slow descent, and the long drive back to Durban in the evening.

If the mountains get their hooks into you, Giant’s Castle and its rock art is the other day out of Durban into the Drakensberg, and a very different one.

Good to know

• Bring your passport. Visa and re-entry rules depend on your nationality, and we confirm them when you book.
• Warm clothes whatever the season. It is cold at the top, and winter can bring snow.
• The altitude is noticeable. Walk slowly and drink water.
• The hairpins are tight. Take something beforehand if you are prone to motion sickness.
• Snow or border hours can close the pass. We try to leave a spare day in the plan.