Magical mountains
It is safe to say that there is no more iconic dirt-road pass in all of South Africa than the Sani Pass. This stretch of road between Himeville in KwaZulu-Natal and the mountain kingdom of Lesotho presents an outstanding 4x4 challenge with excellent views, unpredictable weather and conditions that can change in the blink of an eye.
It is a pass unmatched in South Africa, and there are few other places where you can literally feel the air getting thinner as you progress up it.
WHEN YOU GET up early morning in Himeville and look at the Drakensberg while sipping your coffee, the mountain seems insurmountable.
The Twelve Apostles lie to your left in the distance, neatly in a row, and even farther to the left, though you cannot see it from here, is the road that will get you across the mountain. Reduce your tyre pressure to 1,8 bar before starting your drive.
The Sani Pass starts at an altitude of just over 1 500 m and over a distance of just 9 km, you climb an astonishing 1 332 m to finally reach 2 876 m.
The authorities are busy tarring the first section of the pass. It is unclear at this stage for how long they will be doing this and exactly how much of the pass will eventually be tarred. We drove past roadworks and don’t want to sound like prophets of doom, but if the Sani Pass is
