We have finally made it to the Drakensburg Mountains a place we have been excited to visit since we first arrived in South Africa, so far it certainly doesn't disappoint. Our first stop is the Southern Drakensburg, just outside the town of Underberg. We are here to dabble in a little hiking and see the famous Sani Pass.

The last few days have been wonderful. Arriving in the Berg in mid afternoon the sun was shining and we took ourselves off for a gentle stroll. We're staying at Sani Lodge, a lovely little place with an open fire, feather duvets, plenty of blankets and most importantly hot water bottles. Believe me they've come in handy as it's pretty chilly here at night.

We took a trip into Lesotho via the Sani Pass and thank goodness we didn't attempt to drive it ourselves. The gravel track begins its bumpy ascent to the South African border post at an acceptable gradient and our little Tata would have probably made it that far, though I imagine my nerves would have been shot to pieces. The pass is so steep, bumpy and downright difficult to drive that the South African border guards no longer allow 2 wheel drive vehicles up the pass. So we wouldn't have got much further!

I know I have talked incessantly about the views and landscapes throughout our African adventure but they really are stunning and the Drakensburg is up there with our favourites. As our trust 4WD wound onwards and upwards the escarpment and 12 apostles really were incredible. Winter here is the dry season and the mountains are often blackened by controlled burns and arson fires.

After passing through border control we entered 8k of no-mans-land driving up the pass itself with its numerous switch back turns and icy bends. Our guide Stu did a fantastic job. At the top of the pass you enter Lesotho, the Mountain Kingdom. We carried on into Lesotho up to 'the cold place' which still had the odd bit of snow and ice dotted around. Over lunch we were serenaded by a Basotho shepherd on his home made guitar, it was surprisingly tuneful. He was joined by a couple of guys who we are pretty confident were smugglers with their big bag of weed.

We stopped by a tiny Basotho village, literally a couple of stone rondovels, and enjoyed some traditional bread. It was so good we took a couple of slices away with us wrapped in newspaper and still warm from the fire. Our final pit stop of the day before making the descent back down the pass was Sani Chalet, the highest pub in Africa, what a perfect place to enjoy a beer.

Yesterday was pretty miserable, with a thick mist and rain leading to a lazy day in front of the fire reading and playing the odd game of monopoly. Things became rather more dramatic when an American woman who was staying at the hostel got stretchered in by local mountain rescue volunteers at 7pm. We shouldn't mock but if was going to happen to anyone we could have guessed it would be her!

This morning we woke to our first sight of snow in Africa. The mountain peaks were covered and we had glorious sunshine for our drive to the Northern Drakensburg.