We’ve been following the Roof of Africa for time immemorial, and no two years are ever the same. Some are sodden, freezing, slippery nightmares, yet somehow those are the ones we retell over and over, voices getting louder, gestures wilder every time. Others are absolute scorchers, cloudless skies, zero breeze, altitude so high the Maluti Mountains forget shade even exists, and all you can think about is that ice cold Maluti beer waiting back at the hotel.
If you’ve never been to the Roof of Africa, fix that right now. Put it on the bucket list, book the leave, just go. Be prepared, be lekker, dive head first. Eat chicken wings and chips at a random car wash, let the locals turn you into a temporary celebrity for selfies (Donovan still gets stopped in Maseru), blow up your Insta with pics nobody else got. That’s the Roof. That’s Lesotho.
Get your butt to the mountains!
We always stay at the Avani Hotel, not just because it’s race HQ and the centre of the universe for the week, but because the rooms are spotless, and the staff are legitimately the friendliest people on earth. It’s also where everything happens, briefings, press conferences, riders and fans hanging out, pits sprawling across the car park so that spectators get an early hit of noise, race fuel and shiny bikes. Music pumping, merch flying, old mates hugging like they’ve been lost at sea for years, pure festival vibes. Social media goes ballistic.
A very little known fact, according to Ms. Sharlene Maeama, Sales and Marketing manager at Avani Lesotho and Maseru, is that Avani hotels actually own “The Roof of Africa” trademark and naming rights. Lesotho Off Road Association, or L.O.R.A. are the events official hosts. How cool is that?
The Avani hotels generally book up pretty quickly, but there are also loads of little BNB’s, go support them. We also know that there are places that offer a secure camping spot, often right near where the action is…
But we’re really here for the mountains.
Some come to race them, some to fight them, a few just to survive them. Most of us are here to watch the madness and get suckered into thinking, “Hell, I could do that…” until we spot some poor oke stuck axle deep in mud on a 60 degree slope, screaming at the sky or quietly cutting deals with whatever deity they believe in.
We’ve seen dads cry when their kid finally crests the escarpment at sunset after eight hours of rocks and goat tracks. We’ve watched a 15 year old girl smoke veteran riders and a tiny kid on an 85cc finish the whole thing grinning ear to ear while his old man’s chest nearly bursts with pride.
The Roof is an emotional beast.
The crowd is the secret sauce.
Imagine you’ve got nothing left, podium dreams gone, legs jelly and you’re staring up the last death defying, tractionless goat path. Then you hear it, hundreds of lunatics clinging to the cliffs roaring you on. You dig deep, struggle on up that final climb and they lose their minds! Suddenly you’re flying again. That roar is why riders keep coming back, year after brutal year.
Chasing the Roof isn’t a casual mission, though. Rock up unprepared and you become the organisers’ and mountain rescue’s new headache. Lesotho’s small but properly remote. Here’s how we do it…
- Route planning: Go to the riders’ briefing, take notes like a rider, know the waypoints. Get it wrong and you’ll either miss everything or sit baking/freezing for hours while the action happens somewhere else.
- Weather protection: “Don’t like the weather in Lesotho? Wait fifteen minutes.” Sweltering to horizontal hail and back again, sometimes in the same hour.
- Factor 50+, long sleeves, buff, big hat, grippy shoes, then pack a warm jacket, proper rain suit, beanie, the lot.
- Sustenance & hydration: Heaps of water in your Uswe, electrolytes (Go and bug the guys from NPL), fruit swiped from breakfast, peanuts, energy bars that won’t melt. Maybe pack a roll of toilet paper, you’ll thank us.
- Fuel & cash: Fill up in Maseru, carry cash (Maluti or Rand). We’ve run dry 1.5 km short of a pump and had full on fuel anxiety on tiny tanks over endless passes.
- Just be lekker: The Basotho absolutely love the race. They bring the noise at every spectator point. Take your rubbish out (yes, including stompies), say Dumela, smile. Don’t be the entitled chop jumping queues or mouthing off at the traffic lady who’s literally trying to save you an hour in the mud.
- Safety & courtesy: Braais on cliff edges are legendary, kids running wild on the edge less so. Chill, enjoy, don’t become a rescue statistic.
This year, as always, we rustled up some interesting machines to follow The Roof. It is always fun, Lesotho gives you a different perspective on bike testing because of the altitude and just how things work in Lesotho. As always, that article will be coming to you soon right here on www.dirtandtrail.co.za, keep an eye out for it, it is a very interesting read.
