By Peta Lee
I survived Jockstrap Pass. And before you fall about with mirth, know this: it's one of the toughest mountain passes on the Roof of Africa route and I bet even the most hirsute among you would approach it with as much apprehension as I did.
But with the help of the three-litre Toyota Fortuna D-4D I was driving, it was - well, not quite a breeze, but relatively painless.
The achievement was the cherry on top of an odyssey that had taken me and some mates up Sani Pass (with bumper-to-bumper traffic at the start of the long weekend!), down Black Mountain on the other side, to Mokhotlong, to a quaint B&B run by a Basotho woman that sported rather rustic long drops but terrifically comfy beds.
Funnily enough, with South Africa having been klapped by the Aussies the week before on the cricket pitch, it was ironic that while ascending Sani, which is strictly for 4x4 vehicles, we encountered a little Toyota Corolla coming down - driven by a retired Aussie and his wife...
From Mokhotlong, where an icy wind was blowing, we hopped into the Fortuna in the morning, belted ourselves in and switched the heater full blast. Six degrees and dropping.
Burbling happily out of there we headed for Oxbow, where winter ski-ing is hugely popular, deciding at the last minute to skip the dirt Thaba Tseka road and instead do the Tlaeeng Pass, officially the highest road pass in southern Africa.
The road was pretty rough, with potholes you could lose an elephant in, but the consolation was the exquisite stalactites and stalagmites formed on the rocks beside the road where waterfalls had simply turned to ice. The views, too, were unbelievable.
The Fortuna, all the while, just cruised along happily, the muted diesel engine the only sound for miles. Oxbow, and a stop for sherry and coffee. No stress about gas stations as the fuel gauge needle had barely moved since filling up at Underberg the day before.
Onwards we sailed, to Roma, the pretty university town outside Maseru. Our lodgings were at Trading Post Adventures, a wonderful B&B run by off-road stalwart Ashley Thorn and his wife Jennifer. They also own a second lodge at the top of the mountain in Ramabanta and it was Ashley's idea that we take the circuitous route to this destination for lunch the next day.
Via Jockstrap Pass, built, he later told me, by hand over nine months by the local women in the surrounding villages. It was scary. So scary my passenger decided walking was a safer option and bailed out a quarter of the way up, white with fear, leaving me to follow The Trading Post's Toyota Land Cruiser solo.
The pass, Ashley told me afterwards, was what Sani was like 20 years ago, before it became the freeway it is today.
Engine can handle anything
The Fortuna was amazing: low range and diff lock and all the torque you could possibly need to gently mount and conquer those unbelievable rocks and boulders with nary a stumble.
It was, I decided, the ultimate 4x4. Spacious (once you lift the two rear seats you can fit all the baggage you like), smooth, luxurious and an engine that can take anything you throw at it - and more.
It's one of the most affordable vehicles of its type at just R297 000 - take it from me, it's serious value for money.
- Anyone wanting to test Jockstrap Pass, or any other Maluti trail, call Ashley Thorn at The Trading Post Guesthouse and Adventures. He does 4x4 and motorbike trails, pony treks and mountain biking. The number is +09 266 2234 0202 or 266 2234 0267 or e-mail [email protected]