Sehlabathebe is the kind of place that makes you feel you have gone off the edge of the map. It sits in the south-east of Lesotho at around 2,400 metres, on a plateau of sandstone and basalt that rolls up to the Drakensberg escarpment, and it was the country's first national park, set up in 1969. It adjoins the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park in South Africa, and together they form the Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier World Heritage Site, a high, wild mountain landscape with grassy uplands, rock pools and sandstone arches carved by wind and water.
The park is quiet because almost no one comes. Walkers find caves with Bushman rock paintings, some of them hundreds of years old, depicting eland and hunters, and clear streams that run over smooth stone. Birdlife includes the bearded vulture, rare and magnificent, with a wingspan of nearly three metres, and the Cape vulture. The grasslands are also a refuge for the rare Maloti minnow, a small fish found nowhere else. Basotho herders on horseback, wrapped in thick woollen blankets, move their flocks across the hills, and they wave at passing strangers.
The road is the challenge. The approach from the Qacha's Nek side runs along mountain roads that are rough in places, with gravel, loose stone and water crossings, and weather can change swiftly. Snow is possible in winter, thick mist is common in all seasons, and summer afternoons bring electrical storms that sweep across the uplands. The best months are autumn and spring, when the air is crisp and clear.
There are no services in the park to speak of, only simple lodging. Fuel is a serious matter, and you should fill up in a proper town before entering the mountains, carrying a spare supply. Bring warm clothes, food and water, and tell someone your plans. The people are warm and hospitable, and it is polite to greet everyone you pass. Crossing the border posts can be slow, so allow time and carry all your papers.