SUNFLOWER TOURS http://sunflowertours.co.za LIVING LIFE STATION HOUSE livinglifesa.co.za

housed the Thorns for generations now accommodate tourists and mountain bikers. They were built from stone quarried from a nearby sandstone-topped mountain, the gash cut by quarrying still visible. The pines, oaks and plane trees between them are now old and stately, the simple gardens contain hardy shrubs and flowers once found in all Lesotho gardens. I felt very at home.

The next morning we drove on to Malealea, further south in the Thaba Putsa range. It was raining and the countryside was green with maize growing tall, pumpkins running rampant and livestock looking as pleased as the people. “Khotso, Pula, Nala” (peace, rain, plenty) we kept saying, but there was less of the first as we topped the Gateway to Paradise Pass and slipped down into the valley below.

Malealea Lodge is another former trading post, now run by Glenn Jones as a popular point for pony trekking, hiking and mountain biking. A collection of rondavels and huts, it sits on a mountain spur with views of the misty, pine-framed mountains and the valley, just inviting you to chill.

We then drove to the cultural centre of Morija, a former royal village that became a French mission station in the 1840s. Bridgette Hall’s Morija Guest House stands on a ridge overlooking the village with its steepled church and printing works, which

Rates: From R448 pp

ROMA TRADING POST LODGE tradingpostlodge.com

Rates: From R300

MALEALEA LODGE malealea.com

Rates: From R195 pps in the backpackers’ to R400 in rondavels and rooms. Meals extra

MORIJA GUEST HOUSE morijaguesthouses.com

Rates: R310 to R340 pps.

SEMONGKONG LODGE semonkonglodge.com/

Rates: R490 pps