We arrived at the Maseru Bridge Border Post in the late afternoon, a major 24-hour land crossing connecting Maseru, Lesotho’s capital, with Ladybrand in South Africa’s Free State province. After our recent quick, easy border crossings, we assumed this one would be just as straightforward. It wasn’t — we spent almost three hours at the border.
We arrived during a storm, making the long queue even more uncomfortable. On the South African side, only one passport-control window was open, where they eventually stamped our passports. Opposite was the customs office, which appeared completely deserted, but we eventually found a friendly officer who processed and stamped our CPD Carnet.
We then crossed the bridge into Lesotho, where the process was considerably more straightforward and efficient. Our passports received a free 14-day entry stamp, and the CPD Carnet was stamped as well. Before leaving the border area, we also paid a ZAR 200 toll fee for Class 2.
But our border adventure was not over yet. Just behind the gate, we stopped to get local Vodacom SIM cards. The local sellers were friendly and helpful, but the whole process was rather chaotic and disorganised. Activating two SIM cards and connecting to the internet took us more than 1½ hours. The SIM cards cost ZAR 50 each, while a 10 GB package valid for 30 days cost ZAR 360.
As usual, by the time everything was finally sorted out, it was already dark. We continued a few more kilometres into Maseru, looking for a convenient, safe place to park for the night — our first evening in the Kingdom of Lesotho.
