Location: Lesotho

Summary:

On March 24th, I had a cloudy but pleasant driving day. My Garmin suggested a southern route with more freeways, which seemed fine given the overcast skies. My other navigation systems proposed northern routes, but neither had particularly interesting features, so I went south. The estimated travel time seemed high, but it actually took much less time than indicated — around 5 hours to reach Mkhondo, also known as Piet Retief. I stayed at the Waterside Lodge, a large property that also features the Grotto restaurant, designed to look like an actual grotto. There was significant road construction happening right in front of the lodge. When I chatted with the owner, he explained that the construction didn't really affect lodge bookings, but it hurt the restaurant business during the day since townspeople avoid ...