Maluti Downhill Adventure: Lost in Lesotho

by adminOctober 15, 2014

Every once in a while something comes along that you know will change the way you see the world around you. All you have to do is be brave enough to take that leap towards it… That’s how I felt about Lesotho when I first heard about the trip. I was excited, scared, amped and overwhelmed by a whole bunch of other emotions that are not relevant right now.

Day 1: In true South “Fafrican” style we left about 3 hours late on day 1 after Nic, Lloyd and myself finished work in Jozi. While this was happening, everybody else got there Friday morning and skated a bit and chilled out at the awesome lodge. We finally arrived at about 11:00 pm and went straight to bed after trying for about half an hour to wake the house up next to us as everyone in our place was asleep, (We figured out the next day that the house was empty and no one could hear us. Everyone else was a house away).

Day 2: We started the day quite quickly with breakfast and a quick faff over the “menu”. Before you knew it you were staring down at least 15km’s of pure downhill with about just as many hairpins. I was not mentally or physically ready for this, but decided to make the pilgrimage down taking breaks every few km’s and staring at the sheer awesomeness of the mountain range and reveling in the stoke of guys flying down the hill and getting lifts back up with the locals. Some of the lifts back up were scarier than the ride down! Basutho people are terrible drivers! Ricki had his life flash before his eyes while skitching up behind a bakkie while holding onto cabbages and being flung around blind corners. We ended the day with a session at a sexy little right hander that everybody seemed to enjoy whether they were just watching or cruising down to the next corner.

Most of our evenings were spent around the fire drinking Maluti Lagers, trying to balance on the array of balance toys that were available, watching footage from the day and cooking and eating whatever the “menu” said we should eat.

Day 3 started pretty chilled with a drive out into the Maluti mountains. Which took us through some of the most beautiful landscape and tar you will ever see. It was nothing short of life changing. We hit a couple of passes on our way to the next lodge. One road stood out in particular for everyone involved, it was dubbed PROVINCIAL HILL since we had planned to have a race where everyone would represent the province they were from. The race didn’t happen but everybody was mobbing the hill together and it was awesome to see all the locals chillin’ watching the fun and Petey getting to know some of the locals on a personal level. We drove to the lodge we would be staying at for the next 3 days and everybody was frothing for day 3…

Day 3, 4, 5 are a blur of insane hills, little spills, awesome corner sessions, surviving, filiming, debating, selfies, photo bombing, slack lining, Myi Balancing, fireside stories, footage, Dr Simic’s BLUE FIRE, Maluti, fireside fun, whiskey shots, unbelievable night skies and an experience that changed every single person on that trip for the better.

Everybody looked a happy that they survived Lesotho on the last day but also a little sad that it was over because it was like our eyes had been opened to whole new world of possibilities with your board.

I would like to thank Gunslinger Longboards, Landyachts Longboards, Longboarding Warehouse, Myi Trucks, Longboarding SA, Cult Wheels for affording us the opportunity for this life changing experience. Our lives will forever be better because of your contribution. Also ION Cameras SA for hooking us up with cameras for the trip. Personally I would like to thank my wife Veni, Marco at X-Ware, Kent at Alpha Longboards, Anton at FatAnt Bushings for making my journey through skateboarding unforgettable.