THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED

I have just finished reading your September issue and I was amused to read about the Editor’s love for his 2007 Subaru Forester. A friend is also an owner (he has had two) and, if you let him, he can ramble on about these amazing vehicles.

Reading about the very capable Forester being taken off-road on boulder-strewn roads reminded me of a trip my late co-pilot Glyn (she hated the word wife) and I took in our ‘05 Opel Corsa in 2008. We decided to detour to Katse dam on our way to Durban (as a motoring journalist, Glyn and I loved the serenity of quiet open roads, seeking new adventures. One time, we did 5 000 kilometres to Cape town and back in a Mini 1275!) Of course, we loved the newish tar road to Katse, with its extreme gradients, but it was once we were at the dam that the fun started.

We decided to go via Maseru rather than go back to Ficksburg. We were warned that the road was poor. As a biker who loves off-road trail-riding (I currently ride a Honda XR650), I thought: how bad can it be?

Well! The road was being resurfaced and the aggregate was the size of large oranges. Nonetheless, we soldiered on, scraping the underside of the poor Corsa many times. The road petered out further on, and as we were going around the many, many bends close to the mountain edge, we happened upon a very wet muddy area. As we stopped for a recon, the thought did cross my mind that if we got stuck, they would only find our bones much later! Our only company was a few uninterested cows on the opposite slopes.

Deciding to carry on, I took a run at the mud. If I had tiptoed through we would have been stuck, for sure. The Corsa mostly aquaplaned over the mud, but we did make it over. Eventually we made it to the new tarred section and then it was plain sailing.

To anyone who has not visited Lesotho, especially if you have a Forester, what are you waiting for?