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One of my planned hikes for October this year is to drive up Sani Pass, traverse to Thabana Ntlenyana, and return via the same route, bagging Kwa-Ntuba, Setholong and Mohlesi on the way. The hike is with a group of people who are not exceptionally fit and have never been on the escarpment before, but they do gym, so they should be fine (hence the plan to drive up Sani rather than walk up something like Kwa-Ntuba pass). Does anyone know the times at which the border posts open/close, and how safe is it to sleep in a tent right by TN and are there suitable camping spots near it - the plan will be to sleep right near it, get up just before sunrise and watch the sunrise from the highest point in Southern Africa, sound so cool on paper and will probably be the same as watching a sunrise while on a farm...

How safe is this area and what precautions are necessary?

If most of my planned hikes happen I will have such a cool last quarter to this year, they are as follows:
- Sani to TN (almost definite)
- Hidden Valley (almost definate, my brother's girlfriend wants to spend a night in the berg, and this is a nice easy hike that gets such an awesome view)
- Giants Castle via full moon night hike (provided its safe to do this)
- Ampitheatre to Ifidi and back again (still to be decided where we leave from, ie RNNP or Witsieshoek)
- Bollard Wilson loop attempt 2 - without snow (not sure if this is highly likely or highly unlikely)
- Sterkhorn and Gatberg (about a 35% chance of happening)
- Cowl Pass (probably won't happen)
- Judge/Leslies Loop with climbing Popple, Judge, Corner, Mafadi, Injisuthi Dome, Lithabalong and Trojan Wall (about a 15% chance of happening)
- Passing honours in accounting - it will happen, 6 weeks till exams are done ...

There is a kraal below the summit, might be occupied in Oct, but the (Mohlesi) valley will have water. Oct can be rainy as well. The trail towards TN is well used by Basotho and you will see plenty of sheep and boys running around. "Safe" is a relative term since I have never felt unsafe in Lesotho in my life but I speak the language and it opens doors. Going in groups is usually "safe" and TN is not quite on the "smugglers" doorstep if indeed they get nervous with hikers around.

(By the way, if these Basotho businessmen are called "smugglers", then we hikers might well be called "illegal immigrants" as we come and go with impunity into a foreign country without permission when we walk into Lesotho along the watershed.)

I used to do the "sunrise" thing on mtns as well, but my African friends all over the continent never understood it so I prefer to sleep in and climb when awake(!) But of course you might want to avoid the daily afternoon rains and get up early, groan. On top of TN one feels cast adrift on a vast sea of basalt waves and troughs, very inspiring at any time of day. There are no soaring peaks to look at as there is more a swathe of mountain summits that have worn down to plus or minus 3000m high in unison since the days of Gondwanaland.

(By the way, the second highest mtn in southern Africa below Mt. Meru in Tanzania - slightly south of Mt. Kilimanjaro - is only a km SSW of TN which I call TN South and Intrepid calls TN II (3465m). The 5th highest (c.3455) is TN North or TN III depending and is 1.5km NNW. They have no official names. We are having a conversation on what exactly are the top 20 peaks of southern Africa and their names.)

Thanks for the info Thomas, its a great help. Its an ironic thread to point out the illegal immigrants thing as this is the one case where we go through a border post (although I guess we would be illegally entering South Africa)...

Where about in the Mohlesi valley is a good place to camp? Near the river or on the bank, if possible, do you have more or less GPS co-ords?

Hi there, I dont use GPS, I just read maps. Of course there are a number of streams coming off TN and any one of them that is livestock free and closest to the source is where I would camp. The head of Mohlesi valley is the saddle between TN and TN North if I recall correctly. While a 1:50 000 map cannot pin point a camping place bc the scale is too big, one can look for general flat areas and even where water might be closest to the summit for your sunrise event. I need my maps to help you better but they are stored away on another continent unfortunately (Intrepid, I cannot access those wonderful mad mapper maps, too computer illiterate).

Can't fault ghaznavid for enthusiastic hiking plans and calculation of statistical probabilities!

There is a somewhat steep ridge to cross along the inland route from Sani to the peak, so don't underestimate that one, even though its not a pass to the escarpment. I know people have found that one to be harder than expected. Its the one which the kaNtuba peaks lie on. Sounds like you are doing the escarpment route anyway, if you going for the kaNtubas, still steep and long, but somewhat easier. The Tsatsa-la-Mangaung is another toughie, so you may want to bypass that one by going around it.

As thomas mentioned, the area is full of shepherds, and some of them stay there even in mid-winter. They are accustomed to the hikers going for TN, which means they will follow you around a bit and ask you for sweets. Even on the summit of the peak, you may have a group of them waiting for you there. But you are on their turf, and enjoy it as a cultural dimension to the trip. Friendly interaction is encouraged. If you enjoy classic Basotho hats - the real deal - they seem to wear a lot of them in this area and you can buy it off them! As far as security issues go, I have spoken to someone who was camping in the area and had them try unzip their tent at night. They woke up and yelled, and the would-be thieves ran away and hid. If I remember correctly the attempts where repeated. So it calls for caution but my impression is that the situation is not as serious as Tugela Falls.

I have used the following spot along the Mohlesi for camping on more than once occasion: S29 28.082 E29 19.411. There are kraals upstream from it so be careful about water. May be a little too far away for a sunrise on the peak. You may have to camp very high on the ridges for this and carry water up with you.

I think the SA border post may be 6-6 these days but best to phone Sani Top and ask them about BOTH border posts.

Thanks Intrepid.

So that first ridge isn't really worth the bother? Noted, route to be ammended!

When the Mohlesi river was recomended as a camping spot I changed my plan from TN at sunrise to Mohlesi at sunrise, I think thats more realistice.

The probability of this hike actually happening took a huge dip today when a member of the proposed group (who owns the 4X4 we would be using) informed me that his new job starts the week before the planned date of the hike, so its unlikely that we can get up Sani on the Friday afternoon. It might get replaced by something like Sehlaba Theba or Sani to Hodgeson's Peak (otherwise it will probably be delayed)...