05.05.2013 Parys, Free State - Carryblaire River Retreat

May 5^th was our wedding anniversary. As it was our first we thought we should set the bar high and do something special to celebrate. Plus we really needed to escape from the stresses and annoyances of flat-hunting for a little bit.

I trawled the internet for a nice retreat within a reasonable drive from Johannesburg and came up with the Carryblaire River Retreat, 90mins from Joburg. They boast that the most hectic activities available are reading and fishing. Complete relaxation.

Carryblaire River Retreat

About 15kms outside of the town of Parys, we turned off onto a bright red dirt track which led us round to the banks of the river Vaal and this lovely former farm. I was over-the-moon to find they had checked us into a hut called 'African Skies' and even more insanely excited to be greeted with a full milky way starry, starry sky. Bliss.

After a very good, made-to-order breakfast we asked about some nearby hiking opportunities and were directed 3kms down the road to some hiking trails up a hill from a farm called 'The Dell'. A mere 20minutes into our 'hike' we came to this bucolic view point before deciding to continue on up some of the other trails. 

Along the way we came face-to-face with a family of antelope (ok, we thought that might happen) which was cool. And then we rounded a corner and were standing about 10 metres away from...two giraffes - very cool!

John keeps repeating this story to everyone he can, but that giraffe did seriously freak me out - in completely legitimate fashion - nobody had told us there would be big animals and game on this trail. John has it that the giraffe scared me. But I swear to God I saw that giraffe run off just as some other golden coloured cat-like creatures rustled the bushes after it (lions?! No, they were wild cats I know now, but still...there were a lot of lion-coloured rocks on that hill). Slightly scared initial reaction aside - walking alone with two giraffes, a thrilling and magical experience.

Giraffe (sorry not a great picture, I was startled)

Back at the retreat we enjoyed a fantastic home-cooked 3 course dinner (180Rand a head – really excellent food and worth the price) and some wine. John just had to tell the owners the giraffe story, which they were considerably less wide-eyed about, 'Yes giraffes, we see them all the time. They even have a rhino there now'.

African Skies hut

Sunday was spent with heads in books, snoozing by the river and playing with the owner's adorable Jack Russell/dachshund cross. Before driving back we attempted to grab a meal in Parys but to no avail. Most places closed at 4pm (seriously) so we skipped out on this small town experience (I wouldn't personally head to Parys simply to see the town anyway, it's not especially amazing) and drove back to the big city for dinner.

Sundowner

Misty river sunrise

This was rent-a-wreck's (Mr Ford Laser) first experience driving outside the city. Sure we couldn't get up to the 120km speed limit on the motorways, but so many other cars on the road can't do that either. The only casualty was the front number plate, which is lost somewhere out in the Free State outback. Ooops.

Rent-a-wreck - Ford Laser

Verdict: Carryblaire gets 5 out of 5. We'd go back every month if we could afford it.

29.03.2013 Ladybrand and Lesotho

Shortly after our arrival we were lucky enough to be hit with a four day Easter weekend. Unfortunately we hadn't actually taken into consideration that pretty much everyone in the country was planning a holiday that weekend too. Four days before the big hols, I managed to book us into one of the last available places in a guesthouse all the way down in Ladybrand on the border with Lesotho. Yes, at last - road trip!

Rainbow on the long road through Free State

Somehow we had the idea that Ladybrand would be about 3.5hours drive away. Not quite. As it turned out it was 5 hours straight across the whole Free State. And so we arrived in the dark once again, luckily at least the Chinese takeaway was still open.

Sunset at a Free State truck stop

After a good solid sleep in the Top House B and B, followed by an excellent breakfast we inquired about getting to Lesotho. Again we were slightly mis-advised, 'there's a beautiful waterfall near the dam, you can drive there in 2hours'. Yeah right, try more like 4 hours. We never did get to that waterfall.

Lesotho

So back to Lesotho. After a week in Sandton (probably Africa's wealthiest suburb), Lesotho's capital Maseru was a complete contrast. This is a very poor country. About 40% of the people here live below the international poverty line and the majority of the population live in rural communities with few amenities. The border is very straight-forward though (just bring your own pen!) and South African Rand are happily accepted everywhere, so from that angle this is very easy African travel.

God Help Me Pass

Maseru is not worth stopping by for tourists so we just drove straight through and headed for the mountains. For at least the first half an hour on the winding roads up the mountains I was convinced something was going to go wrong and it would all suddenly turn to dirt track. But it didn't. Lesotho in fact has some of the best roads in Africa. They were built by the Highlands Dam Project to help access the huge dams built up in the mountains which provide neighbouring South Africa with water and power.

Unfortunately it was raining during our trip to Lesotho, so we missed the full extent of the beautiful mountains here, but certainly this is a real 'wow' place. The 'Roof of Southern Africa' as our guesthouse owner called it. Just 2 million people populate the 'mountain kingdom' and 80% of the land is over 1,800metres high up. Towns and villages here consist largely of small round thatched roof huts and there's a genuine sense of unspoilt beauty.

I'd love to come back when the sun is out.

Mountain Kingdom

Ladybrand

Back in Ladybrand we spend the evening at the local Italian restaurant and bar which happily enough was populated by a very mixed clientèle of friendly black and white youngsters hanging out together. Free State has a reputation for being a bit red neck so here was some great stereotype busting going on. We were also going to investigate further and head for the incredibly loud nightclub in the back of the chicken shop, but in the end we thought better of it.

On Easter Sunday we thought it would be a good idea to go catch the Easter service. We went to the local Anglican church and again the congregation was very mixed with an even smattering of young, old, black and white.

St James's Anglican Church, Ladybrand

Now I'm not a particularly religious person and I still consider myself as a bit of an agnostic, however, this service really genuinely moved me into floods of tears. The music was modern Christian stuff and people were all singing and praying as they wished (hands in the air, holding hands, hands on hearts, heads down in prayer, on their knees etc). The priest was an incredibly charismatic man who told some very moving stories and put a magical spin on the Easter story. I loved it. Nothing like a spiritual experience to add something special to a weekend away.

With the rain gone and the sun out we spent the rest of the day clambering up a nearby rocky boulder hill and lying on the plateau on top chilling. Unfortunately pretty much all the photos I took of Ladybrand and it's strange wandering horses, colourfully dressed church-goers and the nightclub in the back of a chicken shop, got destroyed when a few days later wine was spilled all over the laptop. Doh!

Looking out over Ladybrand

Verdict: Top House gets full marks. The owners were lovely and accommodation was very comfortable. Ladybrand is no destination in itself but much preferable to staying in Maseru. If you want to drive down and really see Lesotho, you would do well to give it a week. And come when it is not raining.