Thabana Ntlenyana

Thabana Ntlenyana is the highest peak in Southern Africa. It is 3482m high.

The group I went with started at Vergelegen. Vergelegen was such a hack to get into. The rangers there keep the gate locked all the time. Phone in advance to organize the key!!

The first day we hiked from Vergelegen to Birds nest Cave. The path was quite overgrown because no one really hikes from Vergelegen anymore. Twice we lost the path. We eventually made it to the Cave. Birds nest Cave is a awesome Cave with a river not even 10m away.

Day 2: We left Birds nest Cave at 5am. Our plan was to walk up Mkomazi pass and down Nhlangeni pass. The walk to the base of Mkomazi pass was incredible steep. There isn't path, so the walking was hard. Mkomazi pass itself is really easy. From the base of the pass to the top took just over an hour. Once we reached Lesotho, we could see Thabana Ntllenyana some 3km away as the crow flies (about 5km walk). Those 5 km were challenging. From the the top of Mkomazi pass you still have 600m of climbing. We reached the summit at 11am. The temperature dropped suddenly when we were at the top. The wind also picked up. We walked quickly to the top of Nhlangeni Pass. But as we got close to the escarpment, mist rolled in over the escarpment and engulfed us. We couldn't even see 10m in front of us. Thank goodness for a garmin watch with GPS points!! As we were walking down Nhlangeni pass, we experienced every weather condition. Snow, rain, wind, sun. At the top, it was freezing. But as we made our way down it got warmer. Ntlenyana pass is a beast. It was very difficult. Our whole group agreed that it would have been much better to walk back down Mkomazi pass. We eventually got back to the Cave at 5pm.

Some tips. The weather is unpredictable in the Drakensberg. Many in our group forgot gloves which was a terrible mistake. Walking down the pass when it was snowing was incredibly cold. Those people suffered greatly. Also definitely take a GPS. Without the garmin watch, we would have gotten seriously lost. A map is useless when you got see 10m in any direction.

Side note. In my opinion, starting at Sani pass is the puzzler way😂. There is no challenge in just walking along the top of Lesotho. You have to experience walking up the passes....

We started the hike at 6:30 and came back to the lodge at 21:00. It was a long day of fun and pain. I enjoyed crossing the rivers and admiring the beauty of the mountains. The mountains have a lot of sheet and goats. The trail needs some level of fitness strength and endurance. Fortunately I didn’t have any altitude sickness. We had a very friendly patient guide Josefa. We also had 2 donkeys that were our support “cars”. They really came in handy when 2 of our group members were struggling. At the end of the hike I felt like I’ll never set foot on a trail again. 😂😂😂😂😂. It would be great if the peak was to be properly marked indicating it’s altitude and that it’s the highest peak in...

Thabana Ntlenyana, which literally means "Beautiful little mountain" in Sesotho, is the highest point in Lesotho[1] and the highest mountain in southern Africa. It is situated on the Mohlesi ridge of the Drakensberg/Maloti Mountains, north of Sani Pass. It stands at 3,482 metres...