Lesotho Things To Do: 17 Of The Healthiest & Best Activities

Lesotho has many things to do, despite it’s small size. South Africa is comparatively much more popular. Since Lesotho is 3rd world, with no beaches, and weak tourism infrastructure, not everyone wants to spend their money there. However, Lesotho did get 1 million visitors in 2019 (compared to South Africa’s 15 million visitors in the same year). Not bad for a small country.

For those adventurous enough to visit, here’s 17 great Lesotho Activities from a fitness, adventure, well-being and fun perspective.

Maletsunyane Falls

Maletsunyane Falls is the most famous attraction and the best photography location in the entire Lesotho. Winter is cold and dry season, thus the falls are also drier and less green.

How To Get To Maletsunyane Falls

You could take the taxi to the town of Semonkong, then walk to the falls, otherwise self-drive. In Winter, there is the problem that roads may freeze over early morning or late night. However, due to e.g. potholes and rocks in the roads, you really shouldn’t be driving at night anyway.

You can drive from Maseru early morning – 3 hours long trip. Then spend an hour or two at the falls, and drive back later that day. In the last stretch, there’s a direct dirt road up to the falls. However, it’s in very bad condition and definitely only for 4×4’s.

The other option is to drive to Semonkong lodge. Stay there for a night or two, or if necessary offer to pay them for the parking. Then, walk to the waterfall. The dirt road upto Semonkong Lodge is also a terrible road for regular cars. Though it’s only 1km, while the direct road is 7km. I took the chance anyway, see the video below. And luckily my car didn’t get damaged as I drove really slow on the dirt road.

If you want to play it safe and avoid all bad roads, look for parking in Semonkong town, then walk from there to the falls.

At Semonkong lodge, they will point you where to walk. It’s an hour’s walk. You can ask the friendly locals along the way to help with directions. But using the phone maps GPRS is a great way to make sure you’re walking in the right direction. Thus have your phone handy and fully charged, also for photos at the falls.

Right before the waterfall, there is a tourism office whom you have to pay 100 Loti to see the falls (50 for locals).

I went in July, thus during dry season (Winter). It’s colder, but not raining. Thus, the road was easier. I’m glad it wasn’t rain season, as my car could’ve gotten stuck in the dirt-road’s mud before Semonkong lodge. I do recommend a 4×4.

AfriSki Resort

Lesotho is one of only 3 African countries that receive a lot of snow, the other two being Morocco and South Africa. Skiing is a healthy outdoors activity. You breathe fresh mountain air, while being physically active. There’s no skiing in Summer, thus its only for the Winter.

Afriski lodge seems to get very full mid-winter, and you’d need to make reservations ahead of time (they’re listed at Booking.com). Plus, plan out your drive carefully. You can’t drive early morning or at night, as the road freezes over in Winter. When the sun comes out, suddenly it’s warmer and the ice melts. Thus drive during the day. Bring warm clothing along.

 

 

Basotho Hat

Not every activity in this list is gonna improve your fitness. But I did buy an interesting booklet about Medicinal Plants of Lesotho at the Basotho Hat Tourist Shop. There’s also plenty of souvenirs, and the prices seemed reasonable. It is not a tourist scam. Actually, Basotho Hat is a great place to stop on your last day, before leaving Lesotho. Spend all your remaining Loti’s.

 

Eat Lesotho Trout

You may have the wrong idea that Lesotho’s famous trout is swimming freely in some clean river in the highlands of the country. But unfortunately trout is factory farmed in the area of Katse Dam. Even factory farmed trout will have a few health benefits. But of course, it’s definitely not as healthy as wild-caught trout.

The only way to ensure you’re getting the best possible trout, is to go and catch them yourself in a river. Both Semongkong Lodge and Afriski offer fly-fishing opportunities, but there’s a strict catch and release policy. Thus unfortunately, this isn’t a way to legally get your hands on some wild-caught Lesotho Trout.

Not many people are aware that similar to Salmon, factory farmed trout aren’t naturally pink (like wild caught salmon or trout). It’s actually grey. They add food chemicals to the fish feed, which turns the trout’s flesh pink. I only found out about this earlier this year when I read the Food Babe Way. Thus, it pays off to keep educating yourself about what’s happening with your food supply.

 

Pony Trekking

Get some fresh air, sunlight, and de-stress by doing a pony trek in the highlands of Lesotho. Being in nature is an age-old form of therapy. Even if its the pony doing the actual work, and not you. Most of the upscale lodges offer pony trekking as activity to guests. Some of these treks are overnight, or even over many nights.

Fitness Gym in Maseru

Visit Lehakoe Club and Gym for a great gym workout in Maseru, Lesotho’s capital. Although I didn’t go inside, I drove past. Its very central, in a safe building, and it looks like a professional place to train. They even have aerobic and spinning group exercise sessions every weekday. There’s also a swimming pool. You’ll find the address on our map at the bottom of this post.

If you prefer having all the facilities directly available at your hotel, then stay in Avani Lesotho Hotel and Casino. They’ve got both a gym and a sauna on premises.

Running

Run the Lesotho Ultra Trail in the high altitude of the Maluti Mountains. Different distances are available:

• 21km Half-marathon. This is a new route being developed to make the trail more accessible to everyone. I’ve done many half-marathons in the past, and I generally stick to this distance, as it keeps you extremely fit and in great shape, without over-doing it. The altitude goes up to 2700m.
• 38km. Altitude goes above 3000m at some point. It’s 90% on the same route as the Ultra, except for the final km’s.
• 50km Ultra-Marathon. This is for those who really want to push themselves physically to the max. Altitude goes up above 3000m.

The race happens early in November, and it promises to be a very scenic run.

If you simply jog for fun in Maseru, as a male, it feels safe jogging through the city in the daytime.

In the video below, the Lesotho Ultra Trail Race in 2017. Get an idea what to expect if you plan on doing some high-altitude training in Lesotho.

Mountain Biking

So we are aware of the potholes on the tar roads. But with a mountain bike, all the gravel roads, and the great mountain scenery will be accessible. Lesotho’s most famous lodges offer mountain biking as an activity to guests.

• There’s the Lesotho Sky, an annual 6-day mountain biking event in Lesotho taking place in September. But this is only for the serious cyclists. Race limited to 100 riders.
• Malealea Lodge offers mountain biking trails, which includes e.g. the 8km Malealea Monster Route.
• Afriski Resort (booking.com) also has great mountain biking trails. This is Afriski’s number 1 Summer activity, when there’s no ice for skiing.
• Semonkong Lodge is another good mountain biking base.

Pioneer Mall

Pioneer is the best shopping mall in Lesotho, where you can stock up on some local groceries. Plus check out what other products they sell in Lesotho. Spoiler alert: 95% of the groceries are imported from South Africa!

Nevertheless, if you’re gonna spend a few nights in Maseru, you might as well visit Pioneer Mall and see what a Lesotho shopping centre looks like. It’s also a good place to get a local Phone Sim card at one of the cellular shops in the mall. This is especially invaluable if you want to self-drive through the country.

Thaba Bosiu

Not a fitness activity, but one of the main tourist attractions in Lesotho is to see the traditional cultural heritage village, Thaba Bosiu. Take a few photos next to the traditional huts. It’s not a place to spend hours, but great for a few photos. Nearby, you’ll find Qiloane mountain, which is believed to have been the inspiration for the Basotho hat.

 

Hike Lesotho’s Parks

In such a mountainous under-developed country, its a no-brainer that hiking will be one of the main activities for tourists. Most of the countryside lodges will be able to direct you to hikes surrounding their property.

The most obvious hike, is the short hike to Maletsunyane falls. This hike can be muddy in rain season. My shoes got covered in mud, despite that it was dry season (mid-Winter).

Check out Lesotho’s National Parks for two further great hiking options:

• Tsehlanyane National Park – The most accessible park in Lesotho. Maliba Lodge is situated in this park. Check Maliba’s website for the hiking details in this area.
• Sehlabathebe National Park – The least accessible park. Only 4×4’s. Bring your own food.

Abseiling

Lesotho Abseiling is specifically available at Maletsunyane Falls. It’s the world’s longest single-drop commercially operated abseiling spot at 204 meters. If you don’t have any fear of heights, this sounds like an awesome Summer activity. Here’s a vid to give an idea what to expect:

 

Try Lesotho’s Regional Cuisine

The food in Maseru isn’t that great. However, there’s a handful of upmarket casual-dining restaurants that can easily compete with the best in South Africa. This includes PiriPiri Restaurant with their own Portuguese twist to regional foods from around the world such as Eisbein, Lesotho Trout, steak or prawns.

However, it’s a little disappointing how hard it can be to find Lesotho’s own regional cuisine in Maseru (apart from trout). Perhaps in the country-side guesthouses it’ll be easier to find the local food. I’m talking about the organic Lesotho dishes with only a few natural organic ingredients. Not chemical refined nonsense.

If you stay with a local Lesotho family, they may prepare you delicious traditional Basotho meals. But if you don’t have this opportunity, below is some suggestions to make a few Basotho dishes at home.

Local Health Drinks

• Motoho: Great healthy whole-grain fermented Sorghum drink. Does not contain too much sugar.
• Ginger Beer: This one had way too much sugar. But otherwise ginger is good for digestion. I bought the Motoho and ginger beer at the Pioneer Mall bookshop.
• Lesotho’s mountain stream mineral water brands. One of very few authentic local products.

Traditional Foods

• Borotho: Lesotho’s traditional bread. Although it contains white flour, it’s not that different from our own wholewheat natural home-made bread. To improve nutrition, simply replace the white flour with whole-wheat. It can be steamed or baked. Borotho is served with meat.
• Roasted maize which you can buy from street vendors in Maseru.
• Tripe, which includes e.g. chicken and sheep feet, plus other intestines. Not for everyone.
• Basotho Burger. This is not a hamburger. It’s a traditional minced chicken dish made with chicken, curry and peanut oil (link to recipe).
• Moroho: A very African vegetable dish with spinach, some spring onions, and other healthy greens. See photo:

 

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ChefsPencil has the best regional food guide for Lesotho, written by a Basotho local. Go check it out on their site if this topic further peeks your interest.

4×4 Adventures

• One example of a place in Lesotho where you absolutely need a 4×4, is the Sani Pass. At the top of the Sani Pass you’ll find the highest pub in Africa (2874 meters).
• Afriski provides great 4×4 routes, even if they only point you in the right direction. Since the snow only lasts for a few months mid-winter, they try very hard to also be relevant during the rest of the year.
• If you don’t have your own 4×4, you could still do a 4×4 trip with professional Tour Operators. For example, a daytrip from Underberg in South Africa, into Lesotho, across the Sani Pass. This trip is only possible by 4×4 – check it out here on GetYourGuide’s platform.

Katse Dam

This is the highest dam in Africa, helping to ensure water security to both Lesotho and South Africa’s heartlands. Plus, it’s a great place for fishing, pony trekking, hiking, water-based activities, boat trips, or going to the Katse Botanical Gardens. There you’ll find Lesotho’s medicinal plants, and the endemic Spiral Aloe.

I’ve already seen many dams, and did not feel the need to see this particular one, but it is a tourist attraction, nevertheless. Even if you don’t enjoy the dam itself, you’re very likely to enjoy the surrounding natural beauty deep within Lesotho, both surrounding the dam, and en route to Katse. On my side, I saw enough natural beauty while driving to Maletsunyane Falls.

Archery

This traditional sport of Lesotho can be done at some of the Lodges, e.g. Maliba. It’s also a great survivalist skill, to be able to hunt your own food, with a centuries-old bow and arrows.

Dinosaur Footprints

For those interested in biology and evolution. Be stimulated by exploring the distant past of our great spinning ball – Earth. The 150 million year old dinosaur footprints of Lesotho have already attracted archaeologists from across the world. And now it’s your opportunity to see it.

Conclusion – Lesotho Activities

I’m sure you’ll find at least 3 or 4 great things to do in Lesotho, within the above suggestions. South African explorers often keep returning to Lesotho, after getting bitten by the travel bug the first time. With a 4×4 you could take your whole family along and stay at one of the upmarket lodges or resorts. Then do some serious adventure-maxxing along the way.

Have you ever been to Lesotho? Which of these Lesotho Activities most tickles your fancy? Comment below your tips or questions for other travelers to the Mountain Kingdom.

In below map, find most of the places mentioned in this article:

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