Sani Top is the lip of the Drakensberg escarpment, where the gravel road from KwaZulu-Natal finally scrambles over the wall of the mountains into Lesotho at close to twenty-nine hundred metres. It is the highest road pass in southern Africa, and it is not a casual outing. The track climbs about a thousand metres in eight kilometres or so, in steep hairpins up the face of the escarpment, over loose rock, with sheer drops, and the sensible rider treats it as a serious off-road challenge. Rain or snow can close it, and a gentle morning can turn into a white-out by lunch.
At the top, you find a border post, a few huts, and a lodge that claims the highest pub in Africa. The border is real: you need your passport, vehicle papers and patience, and the South African side closes in the late afternoon, so plan your timing. A hot drink in the pub, with a view over the high plateau of the Maloti Mountains, is a pleasure that is hard to beat after the climb. The air is thin, the wind can be bitter, and in winter snow lies on the ground.
The Sotho people have lived in these mountains for centuries, wearing woollen blankets and conical straw hats, and herding sheep, goats and ponies. Shepherds on horseback are a common sight on the plateau. The rolling highlands are treeless and windswept, grassland and bog, with the headwaters of rivers that feed much of southern Africa. The Drakensberg is a spectacular wall of basalt, and in summer, thunderstorms boil over the peaks in the afternoon, so start early. Birdwatchers look for the bearded vulture and the Cape vulture, and the rare bald ibis.
Fuel is the first question. Fill up at Underberg on the South African side, carry spare if your bike's range is limited, and ask about fuel at Mokhotlong, about forty kilometres into Lesotho, which is the nearest sizeable town on the far side. Cash in local currency or South African rand is useful.
The reward is the silence of the plateau, and the sense of having reached somewhere that most people never see.