Wicked Campers Africa Blog

Never thought about skiing in Africa ? No, really ? Think again because it’s definitly possible. There are two resorts, one in South Africa (Tiffindel) and the other in Lesotho. As it seems smarter to say « I’ve spent the last snow season skiing in Lesotho », we chose the lattest option and discovered what is called Afriski.

Afriski is a resort lost in the middle of nowhere, in the far north-east of Lesotho.

The closest town on the map is Oxbow and you’d better know that it’s not a town but merely a simple lodge (don’t expect a supermarket or even a petrol station there). Oxbow is situated at 2500m, among beautiful mountain landscapes and the road to get there is one of the most amazing moutain roads we’ve ever driven on. To say it’s winding is an understatement. Besides it’s quite steep and your Wicked won’t be able to go quicker than 40kph on the way up.

But really, the place does worth the trip. Past Oxbow (where we advise you to sleepin, even if it’s expensive because it’s even worse up there), it’s still 15km up to reach Afriski, at the very high altitude of 3222m. The road is still OK but beware the potholes. At the end, you will have to drive on a good gravel road to reach the ski slope.

We said THE ski slope because you shouldn’t expect more. And one slope is better than nothing, isn’t it ? It’s about one kilometer long and is OK for beginners and intermediate skiers. Unfortunatly, there wasn’t enough snow around when we were there to try cross-country. But the snow makers ensure you a good quality of snow on the pist anyway. Half a day is R200 and renting your gear was about R150. All in all, that’s really good fun and even if you don’t like ski, the landscapes there are a great reward for the road you had to climb.

The whole resort with these small chalets

1 km long