Slackpacking In The Saddle

DALE MORRIS and his family tack up for a four-day adventure on horseback and on foot in the Lesotho Highlands

I’ve never really been a horsey type. I prefer my transport to respond predictably and promptly. Stop means stop and go means go, sort of thing. Left is left and right is right. No kicking you in the face as you load the groceries.

“But dad,” whined Mia, my typically angelic, nine-year-old daughter, “I don’t want to go hiking again. I’d rather ride.” I was online, searching for a family holiday and, as usual, the internet had led me to a list of slackpacking trails. It’s what we do as a family. We hike.

But my daughter stamped her feet and moaned about blisters, while my son Sam just glared. So I made a compromise, which is how, two weeks later, we found ourselves in the charming little town of Underberg in the Southern Drakensberg of KwaZulu-Natal, from where we would set off on a four-day expedition into Lesotho.

“You can ride or walk. Or you can do a bit of both. It’s up to you,” said Steve Black, owner of Khotso Lodge and Horse Trails, as we saddled up our Basotho ponies close to the entrance to the Maloti-Drakensberg Park. The giant transboundary park and Unesco World Heritage Site is made up of the uKhahlamba Drakensberg National Park in South Africa, and the Sehlathebe National Park in Lesotho.

I was to ride a mare named Mzanzi while the rest of the family was assigned to Ranger, Bruce and Kuduzela. Charles Molatelle, a horsey type from Lesotho, was perched on his own steed and looked every bit the competent Mountain Kingdom horse whisperer that he is.

“I’ll be your guide,” he said. “And don’t worry, these ponies are perfect for beginners. You just have to sit on them. They’ll do the rest.”