Lesotho: Eight Attractions and Natural Wonders

The Kingdom in the Sky

Lesotho is a small mountain kingdom entirely surrounded by South Africa — the only country in the world lying wholly above 1,000 metres, and home to the highest lowest point of any country on earth. Its roughly 2.3 million people are the Basotho, known for a distinctive woven blanket and conical straw hat and for the sure-footed Basotho pony, still the main way to travel in much of the roadless highlands. It exports water to South Africa through a huge hydro- engineering scheme and remains one of the continent's least-visited countries.

The eight below run from the lowland capital up into the Maloti and Drakensberg highlands. The dry winter (May–September) has the clearest mountain roads and cold, often snowy conditions; summer (November–March) brings rain, green landscapes, and thunderstorms.

1. Maletsunyane Falls

Maletsunyane Falls, near the remote village of Semonkong ("place of smoke", for the mist the falls throw up), drops 192 metres in a single fall — among the tallest in southern Africa. A lodge on the rim offers what was once billed as the longest single-drop commercial abseil in the world, down the face of the falls itself, as well as pony trekking and hiking to viewpoints.

Semonkong is a rough half-day's drive from Maseru.

2. The Sani Pass

The Sani Pass is Lesotho's most dramatic border crossing — a steep gravel road with sharp switchbacks climbing the Drakensberg escarpment from South Africa to 2,876 metres, passable only by 4x4 (or on foot or by pony). At the top sits the "highest pub in Africa"; beyond stretches the vast, treeless Sehlabathebe plateau and some of the best hiking and skiing (at Afriski) in the country.

It is often done as a guided day trip from Underberg on the South African side.

3. Thaba Bosiu

Thaba Bosiu ("Mountain of Night"), just outside Maseru, is Lesotho's most important historical site — the flat-topped sandstone plateau where King Moshoeshoe I united the Basotho people in the 1820s and repelled repeated attacks, giving the mountain its name from a legend that it grew taller at night to defeat invaders. His grave and those of later kings are on the summit, reached by a guided walk.

A visitor centre at the base tells the story of the kingdom's founding.

4. The Katse Dam

Katse Dam, deep in the central highlands, is one of the largest double-curvature arch dams in Africa — the engineering heart of a scheme that captures Lesotho's mountain water, its most valuable export, and pipes it to South Africa's Gauteng industrial region, generating hydropower for Lesotho in return. Tours of the dam wall are available, and the drive there, over some of the highest paved roads in Africa, is itself a highlight.

The nearby Katse Botanical Garden protects the rare, endemic spiral aloe.

5. Ts'ehlanyane National Park

Ts'ehlanyane, in the northern Maloti mountains, protects one of the last stands of the endangered Cheche cedar and a deep river valley with hiking and pony trails, linked by a two-day trek over the Holomo Pass to nearby Bokong Nature Reserve (good for the endangered bearded vulture). A well-run lodge inside the park makes it one of the more comfortable bases for exploring the highlands.

It is a few hours from Maseru via the Leribe road.

6. Malealea and pony trekking

Malealea, in the western highlands, is Lesotho's best-known base for pony trekking — day rides or multi-night trips on sure-footed Basotho ponies to waterfalls, San rock-art sites, and remote villages, sleeping in local huts along the way. The lodge here, one of the country's oldest, also hosts evening choir performances by pony herders and villagers.

It is a classic way to experience rural highland Lesotho without a 4x4.

7. The Roma Valley

Roma, southeast of Maseru, is a fertile valley town and the seat of the National University of Lesotho, with dramatic sandstone cliffs and a mission dating to

1. Nearby, exposed rock at Moyeni and other sites preserves dinosaur

footprints from the early Jurassic, when the region was a river floodplain — Lesotho's rock is unusually rich in such trace fossils.

It is an easy half-day from the capital.

8. Maseru

Maseru, the capital, is small and low-key by regional standards, sitting right on the South African border. It has a lively central market, craft shops selling Basotho blankets and woven mohair, the Basotho Hat conical craft market building, and a national museum with exhibits on Basotho history and culture.

Most visitors pass through quickly on their way to the mountains, but it has the country's main airport and border crossings.

Lesotho is a country for the highlands, not the capital. A week allows a loop through Semonkong, the Sani Pass, and one or two of the mountain parks, with a day either side in Maseru; renting a proper 4x4 (or a driver who has one) is essential outside the main roads.