Lesotho is a mountainous country with vast open highlands and peaks that earn it this poetic nickname. The race takes place at elevations above 3,000 meters in terrain largely devoid of roads or human structures—genuine wilderness where teams trek for days across remote, skyline-like terrain.
At a glance
Length
21 min
Channel
Adventure Racing World Series
Video from
Jul 2022
Rating
⭐⭐ Great video · 2/2
Best for
Adventure racers, expedition athletes, and extreme-sport enthusiasts considering multi-day racing events
What this video answers
Why is Lesotho called the Kingdom in the Sky?
How many checkpoints do teams need to reach, and does fewer checkpoints make the race easier?
What happens if one team member becomes sick or injured?
Is prior expedition racing experience required?
When is the next Expedition Africa race, and where?
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Expedition Africa 2022: Racing Through Lesotho's Mountain Kingdom
Expedition Africa 2022 showcases the 10th edition of one of the world's most demanding expedition races, held in the remote mountains of Lesotho—nicknamed "the Kingdom in the Sky." The video follows international teams competing in a brutal four- to five-hundred-kilometer course across trekking, mountain biking, and kayaking stages, with 20 strategically placed checkpoints that force teams to navigate complex terrain with minimal guidance. This is adventure racing at its most intense: a multi-day test of endurance, navigation, teamwork, and mental resilience in one of Africa's most isolated and unforgiving landscapes.
The race suits experienced adventure athletes and expedition teams willing to push themselves to physical and psychological limits. Competitors range from European nations like Denmark and Estonia to teams from Hong Kong and beyond, all drawn to Lesotho's vast, roadless highlands where they must traverse for days without crossing fences or encountering human structures. If you're curious about what true expedition racing looks like—the mud, the altitude, the navigation puzzles, and the raw human determination—this film delivers an honest, unfiltered portrait of the event.
Key Moments
Race Highlights: What Teams Face in Lesotho
Arrival at the Afriski Mountain Resort at 3,000 meters elevation, where teams immediately feel the altitude's impact even before racing begins
Opening leg featuring donkey and horse packing—teams work with local herders to load supplies onto animals for high-altitude mountain traversal
A colossal mountain biking stage through mud-clogged terrain, requiring teams to navigate multiple map sections over 214 kilometers with no established paths
Technical trekking through canyons following river channels, with vast open mountainous sections requiring complex route-finding over more than two and a half days
Kayaking across a dam with numerous hidden inlets that lead racers off course if navigation falters
Teams finishing broken, emotional, and transformed—finishers arriving on their knees after days of sleep deprivation, cold, and physical exhaustion
Before You Watch: Key Details About the Race
Duration and distance: A four- to five-hundred-kilometer course completed over five to six days of continuous racing with minimal sleep
Altitude challenge: The race takes place above 3,000 meters; even acclimatized athletes struggle with the thin air during early movement
Navigation demand: Only 20 checkpoints across 400+ kilometers means teams face 40- to 50-kilometer stretches requiring independent route-finding using maps and terrain
Weather and ground conditions: Teams encounter rainfall that turns terrain to mud, dramatically slowing bikes and adding physical strain; temperature is cooler than expected for Africa
Local integration: The race involves Lesotho's mountain communities—donkeys, horses, and local guides play roles in the event, creating cultural exchange moments
Team composition: Racers compete in four-person teams; no individual can advance if another member is suffering or sick, creating psychological pressure
Frequently Asked Questions About Expedition Africa 2022
Why is Lesotho called the Kingdom in the Sky?
Lesotho is a mountainous country with vast open highlands and peaks that earn it this poetic nickname. The race takes place at elevations above 3,000 meters in terrain largely devoid of roads or human structures—genuine wilderness where teams trek for days across remote, skyline-like terrain.
How many checkpoints do teams need to reach, and does fewer checkpoints make the race easier?
Teams must reach 20 checkpoints across 400+ kilometers. Counterintuitively, fewer checkpoints make navigation harder, not easier, because teams must independently navigate 40- to 50-kilometer stretches using maps and terrain reading, with multiple route choices. The race organizers use this sparse checkpoint strategy to increase variety and test navigation skills.
What happens if one team member becomes sick or injured?
The team cannot advance if a single member is unable to continue. All four racers must move together, meaning the group's progress is only as fast as the most struggling member. This creates intense psychological and emotional pressure over multi-day racing.
Is prior expedition racing experience required?
The video shows teams from multiple nations with established race histories competing, suggesting this is an elite-level event. Teams mention previous expeditions and the mental toll of "going into dark places" during multi-day racing, implying participants need serious endurance training and prior expedition experience.
When is the next Expedition Africa race, and where?
The 2023 edition of Expedition Africa will serve as the Adventure Racing World Championships and will be hosted in Kouga, Eastern Cape province, South Africa.
A multi-sport endurance competition combining trekking, biking, kayaking, and navigation over multi-day courses with minimal external support.
Checkpoint
A marked control point that racing teams must locate and reach in sequence; only 20 checkpoints span this race's 400+ kilometers, forcing teams to navigate large gaps independently.
Navigation
Using maps and terrain reading to find routes between checkpoints when no marked paths exist.
Expedition
A long-distance journey into remote wilderness, typically requiring self-sufficiency, endurance, and the ability to work as a team.
The Kingdom in the Sky
Lesotho's poetic nickname, referring to its mountainous landscape and high-altitude terrain above 3,000 meters with vast open, roadless highlands.
This video is invaluable for anyone considering serious expedition racing or simply curious about what humans can endure when pushed to extremes. It's raw and honest in a way that most adventure media avoids—teams are shown suffering, confused, cold, and emotional, not just triumphant.
What I loved most was the balance between brutal realism and genuine human connection: the competitors hugging one another, thanking Lesotho's communities, and describing the beauty they witnessed despite the hardship. It's a film that will inspire you to sign up for an expedition race, or at least respect those who do. Absolutely worth watching.
Years on the front lines of helicopter tour coordination — not as a travel blogger, but as the person responsible for making every guest experience go right. Managed 2,000+ cruise guests weekly as Shore Excursions staff aboard the Pride of America in Hawaii
Personally coordinated with helicopter tour operators to confirm age, weight, and safety requirements.
The Africa qualifier event, Expedition Africa hosted its 10th edition in the mountains of Lesotho also called the Kingdom in the Sky.
www.expafrica.net
YouTube Channel: Expedition Africa
The 2023 event will be the Adventure Racing World Championships and to be hosted in Kouga, Eastern Cape province, South Africa.
Video transcript for “Expedition Africa 2022 Kingdom in the Sky, Lesotho Movie” Accessibility
A full written transcript of this video, provided for accessibility. Select any timestamp to jump the video to that moment.
so hi guys yes it's so much excitement happening here we're standing here at the magnificent athletic resort as you can see it's been quite a big journey for so many teams you know for everybody it's been a big travel there's that other continues traveled in yesterday it was a very long journey for them
there was a lot of i think nervous energy they were tired i think it just it was like for everybody a celebration of their final year and i think when what when once that buses went up that big path they really realized what's you know what's happening this is the kingdom in the sky
um this is a massive race coming ahead so yeah i think reality is kicking in you know it's gonna happen in a race of about four or 500 kilometers we have 20 checkpoints and i think that is the the trick behind making it so varied and open for the teams that we don't have many checkpoints so you have
sometimes 50 40 kilometers before he gets electrons this gives opened up many many root choices and the teams then they really have to think about how do they get the checkpoints and i think the less checkpoints we have the more the teams should enjoy it but the navigation definitely ups a level
[Music] this is an iconic part of africa it's remote it's tough i think the teams are going to be in for a massive surprise out there i think there's a lot of people underestimate this country and i think it's going to be a proper adventure proper expedition [Music] i've literally not heard of the country
before two weeks ago so that makes it a bit more interesting i guess climate wise it seems fairly similar to home i mean much higher altitude wise and we're struggling a bit this morning just to move around there are a few more uh mountains than we have in denmark i think our highest point in denmark is 160 meters
so being here at 3 000 meters is kind of a difference i think the altitude is what we uh been talking about a lot and then the weather it's hard it's been hard planning for what kind of weather we're going to see but actually the temperature right now is somewhat what we have in denmark
maybe hope for some bit a bit warmer weather in africa but uh it's been two years two and a half years since we did the next big expedition race so looking forward to being able to get out there and you know go through the highs and lows that you do and and going to just go into that those dark places and come
out on the other side i think that's what we're looking forward to and yeah after two and a half years it's going to be nice to be out doing long races again everybody's got a story and i don't think there's one person at this race who hasn't you know experienced something over the
last two years and this is our adventure racing bubble and we're all going into this world where we are so different from different countries and everything but here we are one family [Music]
this is 18th edition of expedition africa a lot of emotion rolling here yeah we are still standing it's a miracle and um for everybody i say they're the lucky ones um i think when everybody arrived you know all the hugs and kisses everybody says they don't actually mind about what's coming for the race they're
just so happy to be here our prayers were heard we have a sunny start that's all we asked for whatever happens from here well we'll see yeah the excitement is real seeing all the flags the branding the people the sponsors uh i'd say a bit of pressure too to get a good start for for the team
but at least we've got a fun activity for the start and yeah the donkey uh the donkey ride should be should be good we've got lots of expertise here from from deep deep in the mountains our team member de sema is the owner of many horses and donkeys so we believe we've got we've got what it takes to
to excel [Music] we will give our best but you never know here in the mountains and the weather and the junkies and the donkeys and our deering so we'll take one state at the time and we'll see so what he gotta do which is best today we wanna carry the the cases for the beer
then we're gonna put the cases on francis then we put in we have this this thing here we call it we have lake in sutra we call it leki then we put leki before we put the cases then we have the rope again we're gonna tie the rope we're gonna tie the cases with the ropes so france is going to carry all the
heavy stuffs from what are you going to put inside the the cases like the bottles with beer [Music] [Music]
yes we have everybody here we want to thank everybody for welcoming us thank the local people from [Music] make sure
[Music] [Music] [Music]
[Music] [Music] [Music]
[Music] it's been amazing to be able to embark and have a go at these type of type of things because it's uh it's not given away for free i just went through
wait went through 10 11 maps just on this leg it's just like piece to piece that takes you 15 minutes just to piece the whole thing together and now we got to go and try and put the whole puzzle piece together um no yeah 214k so it's not going to be given away it's going to be sticky i think there's
a lot of mud a lot of walking a lot of pushing clogged up wheels but uh everyone's got the same condition so we'll do the best we can with what we've got so it's gonna going to be tough it's gonna be a long one the second stage uh was a biking uh monster size like usually it's like
i don't know more than two the fronts uh do do in a road bike so we had to do it in tough conditions in mountain bike and we were not very feeling very strong in the beginning so we went first out but soon the french team passed us and they were feeling a bit stronger on the mountains
we didn't know lesotho at all so it's a very good uh discovering and we appreciate a lot yeah after first section the first section we were four teams very close and after we were we saw only the estonian team uh and it was we knew them on the race so it was very very interesting to to
to pass them and that they pass us and we were okay progressing like that and sometimes one team will have a choice and there's another choice and then we come together so it was very very fun [Music]
[Music] and yeah the bike was long and and also the issues with the march because it had been raining in the night and the mud was just in the right consistency to stick to the tires and make the bike very slow and heavy from where we come in estonia our only option is to ride head into
headwinds to get the mountain in your legs so yeah we needed to get used to it a little bit and yeah the climbs were really big and you really struggle sometimes when you don't have power in your legs and you're not happy with how you're moving and when you climb these big hills then
of course the reward is the views and uh that was just dropping at some places that we visited [Music]
it was kind of tough we didn't feel very well in the beginning so now the rex passed us and we just kept going and and then a little bit recovered and catch them and so still felt a bit better and somewhere maybe
in the midnight or something it kind of [Music] went separate ways and i don't know where they are at the moment so we must be pleased that we managed to get here the bike leg is a very very long the most difficult i never i never do i think
very long a lot of elevation [Applause] very very difficult [Music]
[Applause] [Music]
kayaking is like a monotonous thing that you get sleepy if you don't have this activity like the music so we just kept going and then we got to the last transition a little bit cold and when the morning came the water was calm and the sun brings the warmth and and that became a very hot day for us
and we yeah we started out swam across the dam took the first cp and on the other side we saw that we have at least one and a half hours advantage over the french [Music]
foreign [Applause] [Music] it's very different from europe when where we live [Music] our lives are very
sterile and everything is already worked out and comfortable here the people in countryside live in very primitive conditions and their life is uh simple and they just survive and maybe maybe don't strive for anything bigger so and why should they because it's such a
beautiful place and and there is beauty in this primitive life we came from hong kong oh you're from smallwood buy food yeah yeah ah guys just grow hi hi hi go go go hi [Music]
we're mentally getting ready for a very tough last 10 kilometers because on the map there was no paths and in the reality we just before we hit the canyon we met one guy local guy with a blanket and we asked him afriski and where to find the path in in this race as you always it's
good to ask the local people telegraphy is special i mean obviously everybody knows called the mountain kingdom i mean these massive mountains so that obviously changes everything i mean there's very few places in the world where you can traverse for up to six days five six hundred kilometers without
actually any climbing over any fences it's just it is incredible in that way so the idea between the legs was we've got three trekking legs just to make sure that we have a different look and feel to each of their each of the legs three hiking legs in a canyon technical following a main river the mountain trek
vast open spaces no no any human structures tricky navigation and the last one the village spec following basically the village line for the river say oh different must have a different experience on the teams and then the mountain right track you know that type of distance over that
elevation taking for the black teams over two and a half days and then the kayak leg although it's on a dam you've got um you've got these many many little um little edges going into and people going the wrong way in the knife so i think all the legs very challenging
[Music] uh [Applause] [Music] this is one of the top teams in the world
[Music] you're you're racist we love your race yeah i am cold i'm angry i'm mountain i'm lost [Music]
these guys are our heroes i mean these are the guys who actually ultimately inspire us you know they push through they show us and everybody at home what you know the mind and the human body can do and i hope our family the families the friends you know everybody is looking at this
unique event see that it is so hard racing you know the weather came in the conditions they make mistakes four people need to look after each other you can't move on if one member is sick or suffering it's just that ultimate sport these guys is coming in today they've been on their knees
you know and in whatever whatever form you are really tapping deep into your soul and you're pushing through to get to that finishing line [Music]
[Music]
[Music] [Music] [Music] how do you ever explain to anybody else what you have done
so yeah we just want to rejoice life and rejoice business and you know just have all our people having this experience that we're dreaming of so yeah be grateful thank you so much for everybody coming love from africa [Music]
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