Source of the Senqu to Mokhotlong - A write up

Hi All
Hope you enjoy this write up of a trip I did with two other mates at the end of Feb

Source of the Senqu to Makhotlong
- A Cultural Trek

I, and my fellow hiking companions, have hiked the entire length of the Drakensberg comprising the high and the low berg and most of the passes that link the two. We needed new scenery and a new challenge and exploring Lesotho's interior via her main waterways was going to be it, so we decided to walk down the upper section of the Senqu River.

The Heat of Rockeries Pass

The heat was beating down as we slogged up Rockeries Pass. I was taking huge strain, so were my companions Don Boshoff and Ryan Zammit. It was a relentless onslaught from the elements of unbearable humidity and a blistering sun. There was no escaping it. There wasn’t even a gentle breeze to cool my sweat-soaked body and offer some kind of relief. I felt like I was sitting in a fan-less stuffy room in the middle of Kinshasa with a heater on and the humidity touching 100%. At our current pace it would be a two and a half hour slog from when we left the junction of the Rockeries River and Nguza Rivers. I was cursing myself that it was going to take so long to get up a relatively easy pass in the berg. For the first time I started to use the mantra that is used by Kilimanjaro guides: “Pele Pele” - not because of the altitude but just to keep me steadily going on and up in this tropical heat.

We were using Rockeries Pass as a gateway up and through to the source of the Senqu - a magnificent pass that starts in the heart of the rural Mweni area. It is a quicker route up onto the high berg than its tougher sister, the Mweni Pass, that summits no more than 1Km from Rockeries Pass. Both Passes put you right next to a magnificent wetland that gives birth to an insignificant trickle but grows to be the mighty Orange River. Our goal was to find the source and then follow her upper journey through Lesotho.

At 1pm we finally reached the top of Rockeries Pass. We were glad to have escaped the furnace of the lower berg. It was like passing from the hot cauldron of hell into the eden of heaven. In all my walks I had never experienced the lower berg with this type of hellish heat more synonymous with the Devils Cauldron during the 1st day of the Duzi Canoe Marathon.

We located the source of the Senqu and followed it a few Km's down until we found a decent lunch spot where we had a sumptuous hikers lunch and a cooling swim. The clouds were starting to build over the escarpment and the low rumblings from the lower berg told us that some rain was on the cards later.

We packed lunch away and, feeling refreshed after the swim we followed the gurgling Senqu as it gently carved its way through these upper reaches of Lesotho. This became the pattern of the next few days. We walked about 6Km down river from the source with darkening and ominous clouds following us and found a great camp spot. However, the day’s nature gods were not done with us yet. As we were about to pitch our tents, the heavens opened with everything except snow! We put our backs to the rain and hail - just like the Basotho cattle feeding next to us - and waited it out. The cattle did not seem to mind the hail but it was like shrapnel from a grenade to us!

Once the storm cleared we quickly pitched camp and got the evening meals on the go and watched the cattle lazily eat the rain saturated grass. The heat had taken its toll and most of us were in bed early. Don was a bit more energetic and spent the first part of the evening preventing the cattle from ingesting our tents and backpacks.

Early on our second day we bumped into a well-spoken young Basotho herd boy about one klik from where we broke up our camp. He asked us where we were going and we explained that Makhotlong was our destination. He nonchalantly said “ahhh! It is only a days walk away for me, not far at all.” I have the utmost admiration for these mountain people and how they can walk vast distances very quickly with very little equipment and even less effort.

After about 20Km the upper youthful Senqu started to really scour out some deeper ravines, but there were sections where not even this energetic juvenile could carve through the tough basalt, and so even this fledgling river had to yield to an ancient greater power by creating big horseshoe bends to circumnavigate the steadfast rocks it encountered. This was where the bigger pools started to develop in which we could see many energetic and succulent trout cruising everywhere. We were hoping to add their juicy omega-rich meat to our trail diet but the one fly rod that we brought had broken amongst the tent poles. The epitome of frustration... but a flyfisherman’s paradise.

The further we made our way from the escarpment, the more we started to encounter more and more beautiful Basotho Villages. We would progress through three to four villages each day, of varying size, with each village being approximately 6km apart. The villagers were very amiable as we passed through. Often word reached the villages before we got there as energetic school kids whisked passed us on the way to get to school and communicated our imminent arrival. Again, these Basotho people had my admiration - some of these school-going kids were doing a 25Km round trip to gain their education. We passed through one primary school where some of the younger kids ran with fright into their classrooms when they saw us as it was the first time they had encountered white people. The headmaster tried to coax them out explaining that we are all the same, but no amount of cajoling could get 12 young fearful kids out and and we departed with them peering at us through the class room windows, relieved that we were on our way.

The villages that we passed through were neat and tidy with very little litter around. Villagers subsisted on stunted maize, wheat and millet crops - all clung precariously onto the steep sided mountains. Between all these crops were vast plantations of dagga which appears to be the true cash crop of this area and the main bread winner keeping these little communities from slipping into real poverty. They live a simple uncomplicated life, in harmony with the seasons and would not have been out of place hundred years ago, yet a mere 100Km away our world is operating at 100 Mega bites per second.

A Tick off the bucket list

It has always been on my bucket list to catch a 4x4 taxi down Sani Pass. Well, this was more than achieved on this trip. We caught a 4X4 Lesotho Taxi from Mokhotlong to Underberg via Black Mountain and Sani Pass. It was a five and a half hour journey that in my books was just one amazing experience and was the cherry on the cake for me. Our taxi compatriots were very engaging and interested in who we were, where we came from and the trek we had just undertaken. We were very fortunate to have a Basotho lady who could speak English quite well and she passed on all our info to the rest of the passengers. By the time we parted company at Underberg we were no longer strangers and we had gained their respect for traveling in the same way that they travel.

As I reflect on a wonderful trek while writing this article I realize that it is incredibly satisfying walking along a limpid, river that meanders along at a gentle pace. Its gurgles, burbles, ripples,and rifles re-adjust one’s rhythms and you settle into the metronome of the life of the river, you start to slow down and one then reaches an inner peace that stays with you as the journey progresses. The rural lifestyle of the Basotho people that we encountered, and the relaxed natures of my hiking companions also aggregated this feeling. I will most definitely be back to explore another of Lesotho's lofty rivers.

Trip Summary
We started our hike at the Mweni Cultural Centre and hiked 110km in four days and spent 3 nights camping next to the crystal clear Senqu.
Our 4th night was spent at Molumong Lodge and the 5th day we traveled to Underberg from Mokhotlong in a 4x4 taxi.
We averaged about 27Km per day

Taxi trip Info:
Just ask the Locals in Mokhotlong where the taxi rank is. They will gladly show you.
Mokhotlong to Molumong Lodge on the Thaba Theseka Rd is about 45 minutes to 1 hour and was R15.00 each.
You must return to Mokhotlong to get Underberg via Sani Pass.
Makhotlong to Underberg is R110.00 each and took 5 and a half long hours. You are dropped off at the Old Police buildings about 6 Km below the RSA Border post. We were not charged extra for our backpacks.
Old police buildings to Underberg was R25.00 and took 20 minutes.

I will submit some pictures separately

Nice adventure. Cant wait to see the pics.

We did a 4x4 trip into Lesotho in 2006 and were also amazed how little litter there was in the rural areas, and how neat and tidy the settlements were.

Hi Smurfatefrog

I also seem to be having a problem uploading photos from Safari.
Will keep on trying
Regards
Selous

Nice! Thanks for the writeup

I'm surprised the taxis are that cheap. I have been promising to take my mother up Sani Pass for over a year now, maybe that's how I'll get her up there...

Some day in the future I hope to do a similar hike, its been something on my to do list for a while.

Thanks for the write up Selous.

Its a mundane question for such a nice trip description, but where did you guys check in with your passports in lesotho? Did you leave this for a discussion at Sani top?

Hi Ghaznavid

I was too. You also won't be ripped off as all the prices are set and they are displayed on the windows of the Taxi's. The drivers are excellent so your mom will be in safe hands too.

Regards
Selous

Hi Mnt_tiska

A very good question and something that did bother me the whole trip as we did not check in anywhere going into Lesotho. I was thinking of stopping at the police post a couple of Km's before the Mweni Guide Centre but took a chance.

We had no hassle checking out on the Lesotho side and the RSa side going down Sani. Both sides just stamped and cleared us out.

Regards
Selous

Cheers Selous, nice trip and write-up.

On our 2011 Grand traverse we met a family near the top of Ntongelana who had travelled up from Mokhotlong.

First the Mama’s with babies strapped on then the men followed by the youngsters, tending the dagga laden donkeys. They tried to feign dissociation with each other, but they were definitely a family unit, probably doing a private run with their hard earned produce to get a better price. A dangerous thing to do, and probably why they sought the shelter of the valley. They had been on the go for 3 days.

I thought it rather strange coming all the way from Mokhotlong to get into SA via Ntongelana, but when we got to Sani Top hotel it all made sense. They have a map of Lesotho and you can clearly see the valley from Mnweni almost straight down to Mokhotlong. Also, of course, where better than the Mnweni to ply your trade (or get dead).
C'est la vie
G