Malealea Lodge is nestled in the Makhomalong Valley and surrounded by the beautiful Maloti Mountains. Malealea Lodge dates back to 1905 when it was established as a Trading Post by Mervyn Bosworth Smith. Educated at Oxford, this charismatic, colonial character fought in both the Anglo Boer and First World Wars. He fell in love with Basutoland and lived there for over 40 years.
The small village at Malealea developed around the Trading Store, and since Mervyns’s death in 1950, the latter changed hands several times. Mick and Di Jones bought Malealea Lodge in 1986, back when it was a trading post with a mere few beds. Since then, it has grown into a solar-powered 90-bed complex famous for pony trekking & mountain biking. Di has retired to Clarens and runs a guesthouse Clarens Butterfly Beds.
Sadly Mick passed away in January 2020, followed by his granddaughter, our Precious Gem who left us in 2021 at the age of 13. Read Gemma’s Blog
The next generation, Glenn Jones, Jackie and her husband, Helgard Muller are now involved with running the lodge, together with the Koali (Bob) Mohali – General Manager and Manthomeng Mahao – Head Chef
Michael and Debbie Deutschmann, who managed the lodge for 15 years are based in Bloemfontein. Read Family Deutschmann Lesotho Lockdown Series
Supporting this community that we call home is a priority that colors all of our decisions. We helped to found the Malealea Development Trust and keep their offices on our premises. We also run a mountain biking club for orphaned children in the area. They practice every Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
Every member of our wonderful staff is from the surrounding village and we make it a priority to empower them with new skills, further enriching this community.
We hope that you will come stay with us and discover all that we and Malealea have to offer.
