I arrived from Maputo on a connecting flight. Connection was already short, my flight was a bit late, so I was rushed through the airport by a ground handling staff. Not only there's a security control, but passports are also checked and stamped at Johannesburg Airport, even if you only connect and don't enter South Africa.
We were bussed to the plane, which was the most beautiful plane I took during my entire trip. It almost loked like a private jet. Registration number is ZS-TGC, built in 2002.
Cabin languages had to be left at the door as the overhead compartments are too small for them.
An Airlink E195 parked next to us.
I could pre-select seat 1A at no extra cost. Legroom was quite good.
This A135 has a single-class, 1+2 configuration with a total of 35 seats.
The welcome announce started like this:
"Good morning Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, Ladies and Gentlemen."
The single cabin crew member performed a manual safety demonstration.
Push-back was at 09.50 for a scheduled departure time of 09.45.
A business jet taxiing close to us.
We took off at 10.03 from runway 03L.
The views after take-off:
Some beautiful clouds:
Airlink catering in economy on a 45 minute flight: a cold drink and a choice of cheese roll or muffin. I had a coke and a cheese roll.
A green lake near Denrysville.
There was beautiful weather all the way.
Flicksburg and a canyon next to it.
Approaching Lesotho.
We landed at Maseru Airport at 10.42 and we stopped at our final parking position at 10.45 for a scheduled arrival time of 10.45.
The runway as we were turning for backtracking.
Schedules in Maseru are not complicated: there are two departures at the same time every day with a total capacity of 70 seats per day.
The cabin after landing.
King Letsie III of Lesotho waiting for his luggage. He travelled on this flight with his brother, on a scheduled flight, in economy, without any bodyguards.
My impressions of Lesotho
The landlocked country of Lesotho, sharing a border in all directions with South Africa, is called the Switzerland of Africa not because of its wealth in money but its wealth in mountains. The lowest point of the country is 1,400 m and the highest is 3,482.
Lesotho is beautiful. Besides its mountains, it has magnificent landscapes, lush valleys and waterfalls. The weather is dry, sunny and warm around this time of the year - just perfect.
The people are very friendlly. About 97% of the people are ethnically Basotho; the Basotho in Lesotho speak Sesotho. Although the country is generally poor, housing conditions are relatively good: most people live in stone houses. The country is fairly democratic, and social differences are smaller than elsewhere in Southern Africa. The geographic conditions are good for agriculture, and about half of the population is involved in subsistence farming. More oxen work on the fields than machines. There are over 200,000 cattle, and riding a horse remains the regular way to get around in many areas.
Lesotho is a safe, visa-free, easy country to visit. There's no mass tourism; visit this tiny country before millions of tourists discover it.
Not all roads lead to Rome.
Cultural village.
Lesotho has some of the most beautiful clouds in the world.
One of the many cattles.
The bus station in Maseru.
A river on the way to the mountains.
The 192 meter high Maletsunyan Falls.
A shepherd.
Getting around by horse is the norm here.
Typical countryside in Lesotho.
A mountain road.
View of Maseru from the flight back to Johannesburg.
