From Wikitravel

Maseru is the capital of and largest city in Lesotho. It is situated on the north western border with South Africa. Although there isn't a huge deal to see in Maseru, it is well worth stopping here upon entry into Lesotho to stock up before venturing further in (where there are very, very few Western shops)

[edit] Get in

[edit] By car

[edit] By coach

Maseru Bridge Border Post is a drop off point for most South African national coach services, from where you can catch a taxi into Maseru.

[edit] By taxi

Being the transport hub of Lesotho, anywhere in Lesotho that's connected by road to here will have a Minibus taxi service to Maseru. For more information on taxis, see here.

[edit] By plane

Moshoeshoe Airport is located 18km from Maseru. South African Airways [1] operate a couple of daily flights from Maseru to Johannesburg, which typically cost around M2200. Luggage is lost very regularly and there is no lost luggage reporting system. You should arrange taxi pick-up in advance as often there are no taxis at the airport. Taxis charge around M50-80.

Mission Aviation fly from the smaller Moeshoeshoe I airport just off Airport Road, 2km from central Maseru. They offer charter flights to amongst other places, Mokhotlong, Thaba-Tseka and Katse and are contactable on +266 2232 5699. Flights are fairly expensive, their little planes can be cramped, but they fly to most airstrips in Lesotho.

[edit] Get around

A map of central Maseru can be found here [2]

[edit] By taxi

Stoppo on Moeshoeshoe Rd is the main taxi station. For information on catching taxis in Lesotho, see the national page A taxi should cost M20 for anywhere in town. Moonlight taxis are on (+266) 22312695

[edit][add listing] See

There is not a huge deal to see in Maseru, as the city is essentially a base for expeditions and travels deeper into Lesotho.

• The Mokorotlo. One of the country's most monumental buildings, the Mokorotlo is the traditional hut build in a modern sophisticated style, it is a virtual museum where you can learn more about the cultures and tradition of the friendly Basotho nation.

• Thetsane is worth having a wander around on a weekday - two kilometers south of Maseru on Pioneer Road (past the Pope's Podium) are a cluster of factories that churn out t-shirts and jeans for numerous US chain stores, including Kmart, Children's Place and GAP (if you've ever bought an Old Navy top chances are it was stitched together here). The chaotic hustle and bustle of Thetsane contrasts sharply with the slow pace of life elsewhere in Lesotho, and its a facinating place to see what African 'industrialisation' looks like.

[edit][add listing] Do

• The Lehakoe Club and Gym, Moshoeshoe Road (next to the Central Bank, near the Houses of Parliament) Excellent gym by any standards, with 2 swimming pools, tennis & squash courts, steam rooms and sauna. M142 per month membership, also daily and weekly membership available.
• Lesotho National Tennis Courts Kingsway bypass, functional and cheap tennis courts, tuition available.
• Maseru Golf Course, play a round with some alcoholic expats.
• Moeshoeshoe Day is celebrated in Maseru in early March with colourful processions through the city centre.
• Go canoeing on the Caledon river The Lesotho-Durham Link [3] offer canoeing trips (phone in advance to see what they can offer, +266 22325166). Around M200 for an afternoon.
• Hike up the Hill behind the Lesotho Sun. Behind the hotel is a rocky hill (where they are now building the new Chinese funded parliament building - Lesotho supports the One China policy). Should take about 30 minutes to climb but is well worth the effort - go before sunset and take your camera!
• Explore the region for those staying in Maseru for more than a short visit this document covers some nearby attractions that your guidebook may have overlooked [4]

[edit][add listing] Buy

[edit] Supermarkets & Food

• OK Shoprite, Kingsway (LNDC Centre, behind the Vodacom shop) - Good stocking up place before you head to the mountains
• OK Shoprite, Moeshoeshoe Rd - again a good stock up place.
• Fruit & Veg City, Kingsway (Cathedral end) better fruit and veg than shoprite, also has a very random 'Italian deli' section selling very expensive pasta and italian wine.
• Bensons Quality Fresh Meats, Main North road - very good (South African run) butchers. They deliver too. +266 22321479

[edit] Crafts

• Basotho Hat, Kingsway - a government run craft store which stocks locally made crafts.

[edit] Other

• Chinese tailors, Kingsway, opposite Fruit & Veg - good tailors who can duplicate a suit for M1000ish (they take the measurements from an existing suit rather than measure you)
• Lesotho Cellphone Services, 10 Lioli Rd. Industrial Area - a cheaper place to purchase white goods and electrical items than the furniture shops along Kingsway

[edit][add listing] Eat

[edit] Budget

• White Box Food, not a restaurant, but a good budget eating option - on Kingsway at lunchtime lots of food vendors are cooking up chicken, pork, rice and papa and serving it to the office workers in town for around M12-M15 a box - very tasty and very filling
• M'editerranea Pizza, (just off Pioneer Rd, near OK supermarket) - good fresh pizza, by far the best coffee in town, great atmospheric music.
• Mimmo's Italian Deli, United Nations Rd - nice decor, variable food, including very garlicy pizzas and pasta dishes. Service is pretty bad but this is Lesotho.
• Nando's, Moeshoeshoe Rd - good chicken, Portuguese style
• KFC, Kingsway - chicken
• New Asia, Kingsway (behind Victoria Hotel) - good chinese restaurant - access from the carpark behind Victoria Hotel
• Peace Restaurant, Moeshoeshoe Rd (just down from Nando's) - at the back of a Chinese grocery shop the Peace Restaurant offers an authentic chinese eating experience - good food, plastic chairs, chinese karaoke on Friday and Saturday nights! You can almost believe you are in China
• Good Times Cafe - LNDC Centre, Kingsway (above the Vodacom shop) - the only nightspot in Maseru also serves up adequate South African fare - OK for lunch. Tends to be empty in the evenings except for a few expats. Big screen for live football.

[edit] Mid range

• Lancer's Inn, Kingsway - good food but slow service, but how often do you get to eat with the King of a country? King Letsie III regularly dines here!
• Lesotho Sun, Nightingale Rd - a chinese restaurant, and a grill restaurant, both quite average for the price (expensive) but if you are after a nice steak then it's more convienient than a trip to Ladybrand. There's a gluttonous all you can eat buffet on Sundays at lunchtime with loads of food. Doors open at 12.30 but it soon packs out as post-church middle-class Basotho families stuff themselves. Get there early if you want to get your nose in the trough! M120 per person.
• Maseru Sun Cabanas, runs the same Sunday lunch buffet food-fest as the Lesotho Sun.
• Regal Restaurant, Kingsway (part of the Basotho Hat complex) - the only non-hotel, non-chinese restaurant that offers a pleasant dining experience - good (British-style) indian food, appealing interior and good service.

[edit][add listing] Drink

• Good Times Cafe LNDC Centre, Kingsway (above the Vodacom shop) - the only non-hotel bar in Maseru likely to appeal to the tourist - can be very lively at weekends especially after pay-day (at end of the month) with live music and many of Lesotho's young and rich in attendance - but can be quiet on weeknights.
• Lesotho Sun - Pool bar - Great for sundowners. Buy-1-get-1-free on Fridays 5pm-7pm (very popular)
• UN Club - the opening times are a little unpredictable, but worth a try for the more adventurous - its next to the Sparrows bar / gas station behind Lancers Inn (GPS / Google Earth coordinates 29°18'57.63"S 27°28'48.57"E)
• Local bar in the suburbs - want to get off the tourist trail and see some suburban Maseru life? try this bar - safe and friendly (and cheap), with a pleasant beer garden out back used for hosting the occassional wedding reception. About 2km southeast of the cathedral traffic circle, just off main south (GPS / Google Earth coordinates 29°19'40.17"S 27°30'24.83"E)

[edit][add listing] Sleep

This guide uses the following price ranges for a standard double room:
Budget	Under M250
Mid-range	M250 to M500
Splurge	Over M500

[edit] Budget

There are no backpacker type places in Maseru. For affordable tourist accommodation head to Semonkong Lodge or Malealea in the mountains, or head to Ladybrand in South Africa. The following budget accommodations were built as training centres although they do cater for travellers if you ask in advance!

• Anglican Training Centre, Corner Assisi Rd and Lancers Rd, ☎ +266 2232 2046. Basic and cheap. edit

• Lesotho Work Camps Association, Kingsway (behind the Catholic cathedral on the roundabout at the top of Kingsway). Hot water and a small kitchen, although not so clean as the Anglican Training Centre. M20 per person per night.  edit

You can camp also - only recommended for the summer months (October through May)

• Lesotho - Durham Link campsite, off the Agric / Old Airport Road, on the northern edge of the lake, ☎ +266 22325166, [5]. 3 kms from the centre of Maseru you'd need to get a taxi or a combi down the old airport road, ask to go to the Agric College as your driver may not have heard of the place. M35 per person.  edit

[edit] Mid range

• Boikhutsong Bed & Breakfast, 623 Tjobolo, Hillsview, ☎ +266 63059190. A 6 bedroom guesthouse in the Hillsview suburb - get a taxi or its a 30 minute walk. edit

• Foothills Guest House, 121 Maluti Road, Maseru West., ☎ +266 58706566 (melvin@xsinet.co.za). A short walk from town in the leafy Maseru West suburb (where the King and most of the Government live). A good alternative to the pricey hotels in town. Double from M450.00, single from M295.00.  edit

• Lakeside Hotel, ☎ 22313646. Not a good choice for the tourist as the hotel is miles out of town on Main North Double room from M274.00, Single from M183.00.  edit

• Mpilo Lodge, Maluti Road, Maseru West, ☎ 22317800 (mpilo@ilesotho.com). Doubles from M500.00, singles from M350.00.  edit

• Victoria Hotel, Kingsway, ☎ 22313687. Often the business travelers last resort when the other hotels are full. Adequate at best. Next to the red light area and the cinema. Double room from M600.00, Single from M540.00.  edit

[edit] Splurge

Hotel price inflation It is worth noting that if you have a (hire) car then consider staying over the border in Ladybrand - prices are inflated in Maseru by the fact that 80% of visiters are consultants of some sort and hence are not paying out of their own pockets. It is worth noting, however, that 80% of those living in Ladybrand filch of Maseru. That is, they earn their money in Maseru and spend none there, and then have the audacity to claim that prices in Maseru are high and that choice is limited.

Both the Sun Hotels and Lancers Inn are majority government owned, hence the staff can´t be sacked - may explain the quality of service at these places!

• Lancer's Inn, Kingsway, ☎ 22312114 (fax: 22310223). Right in the centre of Maseru, just off Kingsway, this is a nice colonial style hotel, reasonable rooms, and also self-catered rondavels available. Lancer's tends to be used by business travellers, although King Letsie occasionally dines in the restaurant. Wifi (for a fee). Double rooms from M575.00, singles from M475.00.  edit

• Lesotho Sun (20min uphill walk from the centre.), ☎ 22313111. Perched up high on a hill overlooking the city, this ex-Hilton hotel is certainly not one of the Sun hotel chain's flagships, however it is the most 'luxurious' hotel in the country, with one of only a handful of swimming pools in the city. There is a casino on site for all your gambling needs, mainly full of addicted locals on the slot machines, and chinese betting the night away. Double sooms from M862, singles from M762.00 (Hint - say you are with the European Union / Dfid / United Nations etc. to get a discount).  edit

• Maseru Sun Cabanas, Old Europa, ☎ 22312434. Much the same as the Lesotho Sun (except this one used to be a Holiday Inn) although not as good views. Double sooms from M862, singles from M762.00.  edit

[edit] Cope

[edit] Internet Access

In Maseru, there are several internet cafes, although fairly cheap (usually 0.20-0.50 ZAR per min) they are pretty slow at best. The main internet cafes are:

• 999 Internet, Kingsway (opposite the Post Office). The best value in Maseru
• Leo Internet, (near the Basotho Hat)
• The Lesotho Sun, very expensive.

[edit] Mobile Phones

Maseru has poor reception except in certain places. Your European mobile will probably not work. Cellphones are available for hire from various shops in Maseru. If visiting Lesotho (or anywhere in Southern Africa) then bring an unlocked cellphone with you and buy pay-as-you-go simcards in each country you stay - a good way of staying connected. Most towns in Lesotho have cellphone coverage.

I had good reception in Maseru on a recent trip. Times are a changing!

[edit] Post

There is a large Post Office on Kingsway. Post is unreliable and can take up to a month to reach its destination, but usually more likely to take a fortnight. Sending a letter by airmail will cost you approx 2.40LSL.

[edit] Get out

In Lesotho:

• Leribe - town in the north of the Country
• Semonkong - pony trecking in the Highlands and to the impressive falls
• Malealea - pony trecking in the Highlands from the large lodge
• Thaba Bosiu - historic mountain fortress of the Masotho

In South Africa:

• Ladybrand - the closest town across the border. A nice place to escape to if you are living in Lesotho and are craving Western-ness!
• Bloemfontein - the nearest cinema (again, will only be useful to know this if you are living in Lesotho!)

This is a usable article. It has information for getting in as well as some complete entries for restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please plunge forward and help it grow!