Overland 4×4 Tourism Expedition: Beaume Trans-Africa successful visit to Lesotho

eTN Feature Story:

The Overland 4×4 Tourism Expedition – a group of 28 international explorers (also known as the Beaume Africa Group) entered the Kingdom of Lesotho on April 18, 2017 through the Sani Pass in the Eastern part of the country, along the Drankensberg Mountains.

The route up Sani Pass is a steep road which gets covered by ice and snow in winter, and is 9 km in length. They stayed at the Sani Mountain Lodge, at Sani Top. Sani Top is a World Heritage site that stands at 2,874 meters above sea level, and boasts “The Highest Pub in Africa.” They then proceeded inland through the adventurous meandering Lesotho mountain roads, in the process viewing its splendor of scenic valleys, mountains, gorges, and experiencing its high altitude. They arrived at Semonkong (a place of smoke), where they stayed at the Semonkong Lodge for two days. While there, they visited the Maletsunyane Fall, a 192-meter-high waterfall on the Maletsunyane River, falling from a ledge of Triassic-Jurassic basalt, and interacted with the local communities, experiencing the Basotho people’s traditional lifestyles. They left Lesotho on Thursday, April 13, 2017, through the Qacha’s nek Gate, into South Africa, to join the Garden Route, on their way to Cape Town.

Lesotho prides itself on its majestic mountains – the highest in Southern Africa, with stunning views of a pristine landscape marked by meandering rivers, tumbling waterfalls, and clean streams. Furthermore, due to its high-altitude climate, it experiences cold weather conditions and snow, almost 9 out of the 12 months of the year. It is an ideal place for adventure and sports tourism; a place for the discerning traveler and true adventurers, and for people who are tired of commercial holidays and are looking for “get-away” adventure experiences.

The event is organized jointly by the 4×4 World Explorer Sdn Bhd (Malaysia) and African Expedition (South Africa), and is made up of explorers from different countries, and constitutes 60 days of driving from Durban, South Africa, to Lesotho, to Cape Town, and then to Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania, and the final destination of Mombasa, Kenya. This seasoned explorer team that passed through Lesotho, has participated, organized, and led numerous challenging expeditions in various parts of the world. The aim of this expedition was to promote peace, goodwill, friendship, and harmony among the peoples of Malaysia and Lesotho. During their visit to Lesotho, they visited many tourism highlights and locations.