A final test drive to the Maletsunyane Falls in Lesotho.😎

1st of July 2018

Henry our brilliant mechanic from Maseru Toyota was not going to give in until he returned a well running vehicle to me. On the night we gave the Landcruiser back to him he had the old fuel filter out and a new one installed. The new system is designed to heat the fuel before it is sent through the filter thus not allowing the waxy diesel to clog up the filter. Then instead of waiting until the morning he took the Cruiser out for a 150km test run to see if everything was alright. We in the mean time had booked into the Kick4Life Hotel in Maseru and watched the England V Belgium World Cup game in the bar with a group of very exuberant African football fans. I also had some fun with my English cousins on Messenger with all off us being happy with the result!😎Alas after Henry had driven 80 kilometres it went into limp home mode and then again after another 60 odd kilometres. He returned to the workshop at 9pm and went home for some rest but was back on the job early the next morning and after putting the Cruiser onto the diagnostic computer found that the vehicles computer still thought it had a DPF and was thinking that because the temperature sensors in the DPF were not reading the right temperature it was trying to do a burn and because this was not happening it would go into limp home mode. Henry informed me that the only solution was to fool the computer into thinking that everything was ok. The way he did this was to drill holes into the exhaust pipe which he had welded in when he removed the DPF and re-install the sensors. He again took the vehicle for a long test drive and everything went really well. He then that night took it for another long test run and everything was working perfectly.👍 Henry told me a story that his wife loves being on her phone but he just loves working on cars! I guess it’s the same the World over!😳 Meanwhile Veronica had returned from the Katse Dam and unfortunately the Kick4life Hotel was fully booked so we had to move to another guest house nearby. So early the next morning Henry met me at the Maseru Toyota dealership to hand over the Landcruiser.

Myself, Pauline and Veronica headed out to the Maletsunyane Falls in Lesotho a drive of about 120 kilometres over steep and long mountain passes. I am very happy to report that all went well.

The Maletsunyane Falls lie at an altitude of 2214 metres and have a fall of 192 metres and I must say are quite spectacular. We parked up on top of a hill and started clambering down to a great vantage point. There was no real path and we just had to pick our way through the rocks. I was leading the way when all of a sudden I hear a yell from behind me and on turning all I see is a set of arms and legs tumbling downwards. When it stopped I realised that it was Pauline and that she was largely alright apart for some missing bark and a very sore chest from landing on her camera. She very bravely continued and the reward was fully worth it. You can also, if you are that way inclined abseil down the 192 metres beside the falls but I was far to intent on looking after Pauline after her tumble! (I’m now writing this on the 8th of July and Pauline has been in excruciating pain since the tumble with what we think is either a cracked or broken rib)

When we climbed back up to the cars we were approached by some beautiful children who were very inquisitive and loved having their photos taken. They were obviously well practised because they knew just how to pose!

We stayed in the town closest to the falls called Semonkong (Site of smoke) with Veronica taking a lodge room and Pauline and I camping on the Lodge grounds in our Kimberley. We were really in a celebrating mood with our Land Cruiser running so well so decided to have a drink at the bar before coming back to the Karavan for some soup and toast for dinner. At around 9pm and having met some amazing people in the bar thought that we had better order a meal in the bar! Camped next to us in tents were Duncan, Lynette and their son Angus and we got on like a house on fire. It was a bitterly cold night and in the morning the temperature on my car read -6 degrees celsius!

No water until the sun comes out!😳

Pauline with her frozen dish cloth!😂

The next morning we needed to get back to Maseru so that Veronica could start making her way back to Durban to drop off her rental camper. We had a great run through the mountains again with the Cruiser performing superbly even if there was a bit of extra black smoke coming out the rear. 😎

A small piece of interesting information is that Lesotho’s lowest point is 1,400 metres which is the highest lowest point of any country ion the World. Lesotho is also the only country in the World entirely above 1,000 metres.

We then say goodbye to Lesotho, you have been wonderful.😍