---
type: Place
title: Semonkong
description: Donkey racing the whole valley turns out to watch, a pub crawl conducted on donkeyback, and the world's highest commercial abseil — 204 metres down a waterfall.
tags: [semonkong, lesotho, donkeys, abseiling, waterfall, adventure, mountains]
coordinates: {lat: -29.8400, lng: 28.0511}
timestamp: 2026-08-05T12:00:00Z
---

# Semonkong

The mountain settlement in [Lesotho](/countries/lesotho.md) where Harry spends
his 48 hours, about two hours' drive from the airport with
[Kieran](/people/kieran.md), [Luke Damant](/people/luke-damant.md) and their
guide [Kay](/people/kay.md).

His first impression, arriving at sunset, is mountains as far as he can see. He
says he is genuinely surprised no tourists come.

## Staying here

**Semonkong Lodge**, credited in the video. Rustic and in the mountains: a
fireplace, bunk beds, a wardrobe, a good shower, and nothing more. Harry's
framing is that this is rural life here and he's ready for it — and that the
short straw is the top bunk, from which his pillow kept falling onto Kieran.

## Donkey racing

The thing worth knowing about it: **it is not a tourist activity.** Locals race
in the winters, and Harry's group are simply joining in.

- **The donkeys have no names.** Harry calls his Tesco.
- **Bets are guesswork** — even his guide has no idea which animal or which rider
  is any good.
- **The whole valley watches.** Shouting comes from across the hills, and he
  realises the audience is everyone within sight.
- **Harry refuses to hit his donkey**, says so on camera before the race, and
  accepts that this may cost him the race.
- **He falls off, remounts, and loses.** A local boy takes it at the last moment.
- **There is a losers' heat**, which he considers the real competition.

## The donkey pub crawl

A local tradition rather than an invention: with no transport other than donkeys
and horses, you ride from village to village and drink in each one, partly to
keep warm.

- **Cans while riding, not bottles** — the one rule he is given.
- **Maluti**, the local beer, at every stop.
- **It is almost entirely men.** Women, he is told, normally drink at weekends.
- Harry's comparison is Red Dead Redemption, and his verdict is that it is a
  proper lads' activity he never expected to do.

Between pubs there's a market where **horse parking is free**, which he can't get
over.

## The abseil

The reason to come, and the thing the video is built around: **the world's
highest single-drop commercial abseil, at 204 metres**, down the waterfall here.

**Training, the day before:**

- **A 25-metre practice drop** — a fraction of the real one.
- **Three successful descents to qualify.**
- Each one gets harder and his confidence goes up anyway. Kieran ends up saying
  it's easy by the end and that he's definitely doing it.
- **Luke doesn't qualify**, having caught his hands in the equipment, and doesn't
  do the main drop.

**The real thing:**

- **A hike in and a hike back out.** It's not a drive-up attraction.
- **A guide descends first with no safety rope** to set the lines. Harry's note
  is that these men are putting themselves at risk so that he can do this.
- **Three separate lines**, and a considerably bigger operation than the practice
  day.
- **They go down in pairs.** There is a rainbow below them at the start.
- **It's exhausting** — his arms ache halfway — and then it gets wet, and then
  slippery, and then he is inside the waterfall itself.
- **Getting out of the falls at the bottom is its own problem**, and the water is
  powerful after recent rain.

His verdict at the bottom: one of the best experiences of his life, and the
sketchiest, and the guides were professionals throughout.

Before dropping, he records the monologue that has since become a
[tip page](/tips/do-hard-things-on-purpose.md): face your fears, get outside your
comfort zone, that's where you feel most alive and where the magic happens.

## Harry's tips

- **Take a guide and a 4x4.** The terrain is mountainous and remote and there is
  no infrastructure to fall back on.
- **Do the donkey race and don't hit the donkey.** You'll lose. He did.
- **Cans, not bottles, on the pub crawl.**
- **Do the practice abseil properly** — three qualifying drops, and the
  confidence is the point.
- **Pack for cold.** It is cold and wet even in summer.

## Source

- [48 hours in Lesotho - the World's Strangest Country 🇱🇸](/videos/hQU0lNJ3B7k.md) —
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQU0lNJ3B7k