Ski in Africa? Unexpectedly yes…
While in Europe you suffer from heat waves, in Africa you go skiing…
Afriski the Lesotho resort
The small mountain kingdom of Lesotho, completely surrounded by South Africa, is the only country in the world that rises above XNUMX meters above sea level; and that means that over there, there is snow.
While cold winters are not uncommon in much of southern Africa, snow is. Inevitably, ski resorts are even rarer, and at an altitude of 3.000 meters, Afriski in Lesotho's Maluti Mountains is the only functioning ski resort in Africa south of the equator.
Meka Lebohang Ejindu, is a snowboard instructor at the Afriski winter resort and said:
“I was born in London. But I have spent the last 12 years teaching, skiing and snowboarding in Austria.”
“This is my first season in the Southern Hemisphere and I ski in South Africa”. “But my family is from here, so I feel nostalgic to be skiing in Lesotho”.
Bafana Madida is from Soweto in Johannesburg and is visiting Afriski for the first time and commented:
"We're going to have a lesson, a ski lesson." "And after that, we're just going to play in the snow and take some good pictures and play and just play and enjoy our time here."
The Kapoko Snow Park
Kapoko Snow Park is the only park of its kind in Africa and last month hosted the annual Winter Whip Slopestyle ski and snowboard competition.
On a busy day, the track can receive more than 300 visitors.
For the tourist, Kafi Mojapelo, it is an opportunity to do something she had never thought of doing in Africa.
“I've seen a lot of ads on YouTube and thought, I really want to try this, I've never seen snow in my life. So this is really a great experience,” she said.
The resort has six ski slopes and operates between June and August.
During the summer months, it offers a selection of extreme sporting activities, including mountain biking and guided motorcycle tours.
What do you think of this ski resort in Africa? Would you like to visit it? We want to know your opinion, do not hesitate to comment and if you liked the article, share and give a “like/like”.
Picture: © 2014 DR
