Sehlabathebe National Park

This is the only designated national park in Lesotho. It comprises 6500 hectares at an average elevation of 2400m. The park conserves an area of high mountain plateau bordering on South Africa.

The area is full of wonderful rock formations, huge rock overhangs and many small lakes. The Prime Minister of Lesotho at the time, Leabua Jonathan, loved trout fishing and, since the dams and rivers are a fisherman's paradise, this may explain the park's existence. The Park Lodge is called Jonathan's Lodge and the Prime Minister often used to stay there, at which time all other guests had to leave. Jonathan's successors haven't been fishing enthusiasts, and you are unlikely to be disturbed!

The park is both important and extremely interesting to those whose special interests are bird watching or alpine flora (in fact, it forms the centrepiece of the proposed Drakensberg/Maluti Alpine Park Project). There are some hardy mountain buck to be seen, as well as small mammals, a wealth of birdlife, and a diverse Cape alpine flora. Of particular interest is a small minnow-like fish (Oreodaimon quathlambae) that was thought to be extinct, but has been rediscovered in the upper reaches of the Tsoelikana River.