Drakensberg Grand Traverse, South Africa & Lesotho

The Drakensberg Grand Traverse is a self-supported long-distance trail along the border of South Africa and Lesotho. There are no amenities, paths, or resupply options along the way. Since there is no established path, hikers use maps and GPX devices to navigate approximately 210 km over about 10 days.

A friend and I did on this hike at the beginning of the South African spring in 2024. We ended up covering 180 km over 8 days. We decided to stop at Sani Pass (the first road we encountered after 180 km) due to forecasted thunderstorms. Although we didn’t experience rain during our hike, the first few days we had heavy winds, and night temperatures dropped as low as -10°C. This forced us to set up our tent in a cave to shelter from the strongest winds on the coldest night.

This was the toughest hike I have ever done. We carried a 10-day supply of food, making our backpacks much heavier than on other hikes in more populated areas where resupplies are possible. The heavy weight, combined with the lack of well-maintained paths, made for difficult walking and resulted in the worst blisters I’ve ever had. The high altitude (constantly around 3000m) and harsh weather conditions made it extra difficult. However, the rewards were incredible: the views were some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Standing on the cliffs with a sea of clouds below and steep cliffs rising felt surreal.

The remoteness added to the experience: for an entire week, we didn’t see any tourists or other hikers. The few encounters we had were with local Lesotho shepherds, with whom we couldn’t really communicate. This made the hike very different from my other experiences on popular routes like the West Highland Way, the Annapurna Circuit, or the Appalachian Trail, where you meet and socialize with many other hikers.