Hotels in Lesotho

Lesotho is the only country in the world entirely above 1,400 metres, which has earned it the name the Kingdom in the Sky. Completely surrounded by South Africa, it is a landscape of high basalt plateaus, deep valleys and switchback passes, where shepherds in distinctive Basotho blankets ride ponies along ridgelines and snow falls on the peaks every winter.

The Sani Pass is the classic approach, a rough 4x4 climb from KwaZulu-Natal that ends at what claims to be the highest pub in Africa. Beyond it, Sehlabathebe National Park offers remote hiking among sandstone arches, Maletsunyane Falls near Semonkong drops 192 metres and hosts one of the world's longest commercial abseils, and pony trekking is the traditional and still the best way to reach the high villages.

Afriski in the Maloti Mountains runs a short ski season from roughly June to August, one of only a handful of resorts on the continent. The altitude means cold nights all year, so pack layers regardless of season. Most visitors arrive overland from South Africa, and the loti is pegged to the rand at par.