10km south of Morija you come to a dip in the road and the bustling minibus-taxi stop at Motsekuoa, which marks the turning for the road to the village of MALEALEA , one of the best-known spots in Lesotho thanks to the hugely popular Malealea Lodge (tel 051 447 3200, ; camping and dorms: up to R100, doubles: R100-150, rondavels: R150-200). A little less isolated these days because of the tar road running most of the way to the village, it's still a spectacular spot set in the foothills of the Thaba Putsoa mountain range. The lodge was originally a trading store, established by the British adventurer Mervyn Bosworth-Smith in 1905, and it was he who wrote the inscription "Wayfarer, pause and look upon a gateway of Paradise" at the magnificent mountain pass taking you into the final stretch of the journey to the lodge. The current owners of the lodge, Di and Mick Jones, have done as much as anyone in recent years to promote Lesotho, not least because of the enthusiastic but laid-back way they run the lodge, which has grown significantly from its trading store origins to incorporate a cluster of huts, houses and rondavels with both backpackers' dorms and decent double rooms. It's always a lively place; next to the dining room is a great little bar and most evenings guests congregate round an open fire outside, occasionally with a band of local school children bashing out tunes on homemade instruments.

 

Many visitors come to Malealea to hike, and the lodge has mapped out a series of trails, but the main activity is pony trekking . The lodge doesn't own the ponies, but acts as an agent for local horsemen who receive the bulk of the money. It costs about M120-175 for a day trek, plus a small additional cost for staying in a village for overnight treks. Together with the horsemen, the lodge has worked out a series of guided trips, from short one-hour tours and half-days to as many days as your bottom and your wallet can stand. An excellent two-day adventure is the journey to the Ribaneng Falls , which takes you down and over steep sandstone valleys and hills. The lodge ensures that there is an empty, well-kept rondavel with a gas cylinder in the village for your overnight stop, offering a rough-and-ready, but nonetheless memorable, taste of life in the mountains. You do need to take your own food and sleeping gear with you. If you have the time for a four-day journey, your guide will take you all the way east to the impressive Ketane Falls and back, travelling over some particularly beautiful mountains, and through quiet, friendly villages. A good, less pricey alternative to the pony trekking, which is quite hard on the body if you are not used to it, is simply walking and using a pony as a pack animal. The pony can carry four people's packs, provided they're not excessively heavy.

To get to Malealea by public transport from Maseru, take a bus or minibus taxi to Motsekuoa, or to Morija and then on to Motsekuoa. During the day, there's plenty of transport from Motsekuoa towards Matelilie and the only possible slow bit is after you're dropped off at the junction to Malealea, which is about 8km away. However, almost all the vehicles going that way are likely to give you a lift to the lodge. There is frequently transport travelling between the lodge and Bloemfontein, via Wepener; ask about this when you make your booking. If you're travelling to or from the eastern Free State, it's possible to arrange a transfer with the Lesotho Shuttle , which runs from Amphitheatre Backpackers (tel 036 438 6106, ) in the Royal Natal National Park, and also provides a means of linking up with the Baz Bus route between Johannesburg and Durban.