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South-Africa

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-- From 2018/10/08 to 2018/10/14
-- From Umhlanga, ZA to Maseru, LS
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The GPS road tracklog
from Umhlanga to Inanda Dam
from 2018/10/08 to 2018/10/08

Inanda Dam

As of before the opening at 7:30 I stationed in front of the gate of the garage of Mercedes-Benz where I had taken an appointment three weeks before for the periodic service. The reception procedure was promptly carried out. My car was returned to me around 12:00. I had thrown my reserved on a bivouac at the edge of the artificial lake of Inanda close to the dam.

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Qacha's Nek, border between South Africa & Lesotho

Exit South Africa, ZA

Tuesday, September 9 was a long driving day. I had hoped to find a bivouac on the way towards Lesotho. Alas around 17:00 I found myself at the border post of South Africa after a very rocky track at the speed between 10 and 20 km/h. During the way in the mountain a violent storm fell down with a torrential rain as well as rumblings of thunder and flashes gigantic. The formalities were very fast with the presentation of the carnet de passage en douane for the checking of the n° of chassis. At the barrier of the police station I obtained the authorization of bivouac on the adjacent full ground in the "no man's land" at 1994 meters of altitude.

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Enter Lesotho, LS

Wednesday, October 10 I presented myself to the border post of Lesotho to obtain a one month visa. I paid a fee for using the roads of M40 i.e. 30 Rands.
Lesotho, Wiki here.

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The GPS road tracklog
from Qacha's Nek to Maletsunyane Falls
from 2018/10/10 to 2018/10/10

Route A5 to Maletsunyane Falls, LS

The A5 road is entirely asphalted; with sometimes pot-holes and especially of the backs of donkey, traffic calming, at the entry and the exit of villages and on the road to protect the stops of taxis. The landscapes of mountain are splendid carved by million years of erosion. The A5 road zigzags in rolling mountains. I found a bivouac vis-a-vis of Maletsunyane Falls at 2273 meters of altitude.

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The GPS road tracklog
from Maletsunyane Falls to Thaba Bosiu
from 2018/10/11 to 2018/10/11

Thaba Bosiu at the riverside

Thursday, October 11 I continued my progression on the A5 road by mounts and by am always worth on a good asphalted roadway. In the village of Roma I took a picture of the gate of the University of Lesotho. Tilling on mountainside is carried out by an attachment of four beef animals. By a turning on the B31 road I found a bivouac at the edge of a small river where the herds came to water themselves. Its bucolic aspect at 1543 meters of altitude encouraged me to remain two nights there.

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The GPS road tracklog
from Thaba Bosiu to Morija
from 2018/10/13 to 2018/10/13

Morija

Saturday, October 13 after a rainy night  the day was announced gloomy at approximately 1600 meters of altitude with an average temperature of 13°C. My target was to visit the village of Morija, first site of a European mission in Lesotho. It is composed of some houses, a museum and a brick church which I visited accompanied by two hostesses. At the exit of the village seeking a place of bivouac I warned a ground occupied by white tents under which excessively pious women were gathered and sang psalms in vernacular language. One of the tents was to shelter a meal drawn up with white tablecloths and a bottle of sparkling wine. I found a bivouac along the road after the village!

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The GPS road tracklog
from Morija back to Maseru
from 2018/10/14 to 2018/10/14

Maseru

Sunday, October 14 on the way towards the bivouac I stopped in Maseru, capital of Lesotho, which did not hold the attention of Lonely-Planet's writers. Admittedly there is nothing to see whether it is not the Parliament built on a hill dominating the plateau of Maseru at 1600 meters of altitude. Then in the city the monstrous cathedral which was crammed for the office of Sunday. I bivouacked in Maseru Backpackers (Lesotho Durham Link) at the edge of the lake; I was alone!

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