Maletsunyane abseil, Lesotho Dec 2009

On Christmas eve we (Nicola, Gordon and I) left from Gauteng and drove to Clarens via Golden Gate. We had luxury accommodation at Next2Heaven. On Christmas day we entered Lesotho at Caledonspoort and drove up the stunning Mafika Lisiu pass (3090m). At the top it was windy, overcast and cold but we descended back into the sun. On the way down, my car's front brakes started smoking and the rest of our trip I had to use engine compression to break.

Katse dam then appeared below us and we had a leisurely drive all along the shore until we finally got to the very impressive dam wall. Then it was onto gravel for 30km, at the end of which we heard a knocking from the right front wheel - shock absorber. Fearing that it might be serious, we decided to drive straight to our planned accommodation in Roma, without lingering further. As soon as we turned west from Thaba Tseka, we had a lovely tarred surface. Pity it only lasted 20km. We reached a section where they are obviously in the process of tarring as well, but the primary rock layers laid in preparation made for such horrible driving that we couldn't exceed 20km/h. Hoping that this won't last too long we asked the first vehicle from the opposite side how far it was still gravel. 5km came the answer. Only 30km later we reached tar again!

We made much better time back on tar but we only reached Roma at 17:00. Relieved to have a rest we attempted to check in at our booked guesthouse, only to be told that we have beenbooked into another guesthouse. 40km down the road! Dismayed we left again and drove to Ramabanta where we discovered that the owner of the place had no booking for us! Luckily there was still place in the backpackers room and we settled down for a well-deserved rest.

Next morning (26 Dec) we had a local mechanic quickly checking the car. He confirmed there was nothing seriously wrong so we decided to continue to Semonkong. The road there is 55km long and took us a full 2 hours to drive. The road was pretty bad in places but the spectacular scenery made up for it - this must surely be some of the remotest parts of the world I've ever seen. Arriving at Semonkong lodge, we were warmly welcomed and spent the rest of the morning lounging next to the Maletsunyane river. Later in the afternoon we were invited to see the local horse races. Intrigued, we joined a whole group of tourists driving a fair distance to a high plateau where the Basothos held regular races, betting and bookies included!

On the morning of 27 Dec 2009, we still had to get in a few practice abseils and we were on the cliffs next to the lodge at 7am. We first practiced locking and adding a bar to the 5-bar rack abseil device, then did another with the entire 240m rope hanging on the rope at the bottom to simulate the weight we will experience on the big abseil. Then we were off! We drove to above the falls by 4x4 where a horse and owner was patiently waiting to take all the ropes and gear down to the top of the falls. We hiked behind them and promptly arrived at the jump-off. The setup was done quite quickly and before long Nicola was hooked up and ready to go. I took a few pictures as she went over the edge and only 12 minutes later the rope went slack - she did it! It was my turn now and although nervous, I was not nearly as scared as with the previous long abseil I did. I went over the edge and soon was sliding happily along - what a magnificent sight! As I turned around on the upper section I scanned below and around me - a truly indescribable view! About halfway down, the spray from the waterfall started getting very wet and with 20m to go, I was soaked. Arriving at the bottom, a guide in oilskins helped me get off the rope while I was getting drenched. A short scarmble over very slippery rocks got me to where Nicola and the main guide (Jonathan) were waiting. We got pictures taken and then waited for Gordon to come down. He managed perfectly fine and when he joined us he was all eyes and teeth! We waited for a fourth person to complete the abseil before a guide led us out of the gorge back to the top. Back at the lodge we received certificates for completing a Guinness World Record highest commercial abseil in the world - 204m!

It was now after 4pm and we drove the 55km back to Ramabanta where we spent a night in a tent at the same lodge before returning home via Ficksburg the next day. A marvellous trip and an abseil to remember!

Loskop dam Nature Reserve birding Dec 2009

Links

• List of birds

At 05:00 we left from Nicola's place, driving about 50km north of Middelburg to the Loskop dam Nature Reserve. It was drizzling and a bit windy when we arrived at the bridge crossing the Olifants river, resulting in fewer birds sighted than the previous time we were here. Just before we entered the reserve, we heard the booming call of a Southern ground hornbill - very unexpected for this reserve, but then they do have a breeding project for this endangered species.

Inside the reserve we added a few common birds before stopping at the ablution block where we got a quick glimpse of a Black cuckooshrike. We got a few more the deeper we went into the reserve but then picked up our sighting of the day just past the picnic site where a Bronzewinged courser posed dead still in the middle of the road while we took picture after picture.

Just before noon we've driven all the roads in the reserve and decided to pop in at Botshabelo Historical Village and Reserve. With grasslands as the common habitat here we got a few different birds here including Rock kestrel and Steppe buzzard. On the short game drive, in the middle of a small pool of water standing in the jeeptrack, an African snipe sat still for a good sighting before we drove past it.

We were back in Middelburg again by 14:30 as it was starting to get too hot to bird. A good day out with 101 birds for the day.