I Survived Africa’s Coldest and Hottest Countries!

Africa is the land of wonders. Africa can be extremely hot. I mean, some of the world's hottest places on earth are right here in Africa. Where are we going now? We're going to the colorful, to the sulfur, iron and potassium oxidized area. Is it the place that is known to be the hottest place on the hottest place? Yes. On planet? On planet, yes. They say this is the hottest place on earth. But after being here, I must say that this is indeed the most colorful place on planet earth. But what most of you don't know that it's also snows in Africa. Goodness, this is so beautiful, man. Like the snow out here is extremely thick. People are bringing their kids, some are skiing, some are just living their best life in the snow. Trust me, man. I don't understand why Africans spend so much money going to the West to enjoy vacation, knowing that we have this. Are we in Switzerland? No. Are we in Alaska? No. Are we in Europe? No. Are we in America? No. Where are we? God took his time to create the beautiful Africa for Africans. And it's about time for Africans to cherish it. It's about time for Africans to come and explore this, bro. Can you believe it? When I was coming to Africa, a lot of folks in the United States are like, oh, it's dangerous or like all over the world. I kind of hate how the world is skeptical or scared of Africa. And there's just so much natural beauty here. Everyone's spectacular. And like, I just don't think it's fair. You know, you got to come here and see it yourself. Okay, so the mountains are amazing. And then once it snowed, seeing the snow on the mountain changed the entire view of the landscape. I think we saw it before there was that much snow. And then it snowed last night. And now it just looks insane. It's white. It's beautiful. Yeah, it's fluffy. It's fun. And it's wet. Which makes Africa so unique because this is one of the only continents in the world where hot and cold climate coexist. Oh, it's beautiful. Oh, it's so beautiful. It's so soothing. Love it. The beauty of God and the beauty of nature is just amazing. I think anytime I find myself in beautiful places, it reminds me of the wonders of God, you know? Oh, definitely. Most definitely. Like it shows you that God is an engineer. Wow, that's a beautiful one. How do you feel whenever it snows in your country? I feel blessed. And also feel cold. In this episode, we'll be exploring the coldest and the hottest part of Africa. But hey, I'll not be doing this alone but with my old time classmate. Bro. How are you doing? Good, man. First time in Lesotho? First time. We actually started this channel together. He currently has his own YouTube channel with a wife and I would encourage you all to go subscribe to his YouTube channel because we both used to live in the coldest part of China. So if I want to explore the coldest country in Africa, why not explore with the experienced man himself. Tony Megabush. Thank you all so much for being part of this awesome family. I don't take you for granted. I appreciate each and every one of you for learning about Africa through my videos. And I'm here to let you all know that this year we have to grow bigger. It's about time for us to cross 2 million subscribers this year. So hey, if you're watching this video, do me a favor. First of all, like this video. If you haven't subscribed to the channel, please subscribe to the channel. Share these videos to your friends and family. Tell them that there is a guy who is educating the entire world about the continent Africa. Thank you for subscribing and thank you for sharing. This is Lesotho and I'm here to invite you all to come and visit this beautiful country. If you come in the summertime, the entire mountains that you see will be covered in greenery. But guess what? I decided to experience this country in two seasons, which is summer and winter. So I am here to show you how beautiful Lesotho looks like during winter, man. This is absolutely beautiful, man. Just look at how the snow has covered the entire mountains. It's like all the angels above came to Lesotho and they are all praising God together. Bro, look at that. Is that a waterfall? Oh, Mr. Kopano. Wow. Hi, how are you? How are you doing? Great. Good to see you. Where are you heading to? Where are you headed? You're going to AfriSki and you're stuck now. Lesotho is the only country in the world which is entirely above 1,000 meters. Lesotho as a country is 75% mountainous. So you've got a bigger chunk of the country as mountains than flat, low-lying. That's why we are the kingdom in the sky. We are the mountain kingdom. I mean, we're actually sitting on 3,222 meters above sea level. So you can imagine how high we are. The reason why it snows in here is because of the high altitude. So a heavy snowfall comes with a challenge. Are you stuck? You're stuck? So you can't move ahead? How long are you going to stay here? Maybe till Monday. But I thought they were clearing it. No, you can't clear it. You can't? Even if you're using a 4x4, you can't clear it. What am I? So we're actually climbing to the top just to go enjoy the snow. But I can see a lot of trucks being parked along the way because they can't go up just because of the snow. Look at that. Just look at that. This is an accident. You couldn't go up just because it was snowing, right? That's a South African car. So I believe that he didn't know how slippery the road can be during snowy times. After seeing how that car almost somersaulted, he advised me to continue the journey. Hi, are we still going up? Yeah, we're going up. We're going up? We're going to Afriski. We're going to Afriski? Afriski. All the way to Afriski. But what happened to the car? We're going with the Toyota. That's more like an advert for Toyota, man. But anyway. So beautiful. Waterfall in the snow. The waterfall in the snow. Can you believe it? Wow. Just look at that. I can't believe I'm seeing you. I'm so happy to meet you, man, dude. I'm Tom. I'm going to every country in the world. I go to a new country every Sunday. In 2025, I'm going to try to complete the rest of Africa. And I got about 90 countries left to go. Lesotho is country 103. Oh my goodness. And hello, man. If you want to come with me, I'm actually a fan of you. Seriously. But I have never been to 103 countries. I have done 50 countries. 36 in Africa. Yeah. So you're amazing, man. No, you're amazing, dude. I love how you come with an open perspective and talk about everything. Seriously, dude. What's your first impression about Lesotho? Oh, it's gorgeous. It snows in your country? Yeah. How does that make you feel? I'm not used to it. Even I love it. Even though I live like in the lowlands in Maseru. So I sometimes travel the site and see the snow. So we made it to Afriski. Afriski is the one. So I don't think you guys can see from here, but that's Afriski right over there, man. It looks so different from the last time that I came. Since the car cannot get us there, we just have to walk. And this is what we call the long walk to Afriski. Yo, how you doing, brother? Are you not freezing? I'm cold, bro, but I've been here for like three days. So I'm used to it now. Is it your first ever snow experience? It's my first time seeing snow. We saw snow for the first time last night. Oh, wow. It's really nice. It snowed the whole night. We pulled the snowman. We took a walk at like 1 a.m. It was amazing. It was dope. And as an African, I mean, experiencing snow in Africa, how does that make you feel though? I never thought that it was possible until like I found, I think, because of Steven a few weeks ago. I didn't know this existed. So as an African experiencing snow in Africa for the first time. Oh, oh, but you are South African, and you didn't know that. I didn't know at all. That it snows in Lesotho. I didn't know it snows in Lesotho. I thought I had to go far. I thought I had to go all the way to Alaska or wherever it is. Oh my goodness. Wow. That's insane, man. I had no idea. I think we want to come back again like the 1st of August. I want to bring all my friends just so they can see because it's an experience. It's nice to like be in the snow, to be cold, to dress up, be warm. It looks amazing. You know, also as you know, we create fashion content. So I have to take some nice photos. But yeah. But one of the coolest thing about snowfall right here in Lesotho, the fact that the people actually wear blankets instead of jacket. So on the mountains, you see everyone wearing their own blanket. But when you go to Maseru, I think last year it snowed in Maseru, not this time around. So a lot of people in Maseru will be wearing like jacket. But out here, everyone wear blanket and that's why I'm also wearing my own blanket. So that is a dressing for the snow. Where are you from? Johannesburg, South Africa. Oh, wow. Pretty girls from Joburg. This is so cool. I mean, how's the experience for you so far? Oh, I loved every single second of it. Of course, when it gets windy. No. You know what, but it feels so good to see snow in Africa for the first time, right? Yeah. The first experience. Yeah. Will you ever forget this experience? Never. Will you tell someone to visit? Everybody needs to come here. If you don't, you're missing out on so much. It is worth everything and more. And it's also a good place for families. Couples, friends, anyone and everyone. We made it to Afiski and the entire resort is covered with snow. Unbelievable. Because I was here during summer, bro. It looks so different, man. It's so cold, bro. It's extremely cold to the extent that we have to use this heater right here and this bed is actually an electric bed. So more like, um, you turn it on and off. So right now it's off. I turned it on just to warm the bed so that I'll be able to sleep because it's so cold in here. So it's time to jump on the bed. Can you please turn off my light? And wish you a good night. Good morning. It's really freezing out here. The temperature right now is minus six degrees. It's seven o'clock in the morning and it's still dark outside. Can you believe it? Because when I came here in summer, it was more like longer days, shorter nights. But this time around in winter, it's shorter days, longer nights. Like everywhere is dark and it's seven o'clock. My goodness. You can't even see me. It's seven o'clock and it seems nothing is happening out here. Everyone is asleep. It's dark even at seven. That's insane, bro. But it's so cool to see the stars from this car. I'm wearing one, two, three, four. And that's not the end. But I'm done. As you can see, it's morning. Very beautiful day out here at Afriski. They call it the Afriski Resort. But after being here, I feel like it's more like a mountain village within Africa. You know, seeing different cabins covered in snow, seeing the entire mountains covered in snow. It was like a whole different place altogether because, you know, I was in Maseru before coming in here and it's not snowing in Maseru, but it's snowing in this part of the country. Oh, my God. Can you see the thickness? This is real-time snow, man. Look at that. This is crazy, man. Yep, that's me. It's actually a challenge moving the car. So, what are you going to do to the wheel screen? Well, how are you going to clear this out? The sun will also help. Then I will make a heater inside. Then I will run the wipers. The snow will melt. But have you had incidents where the car couldn't turn on? Yeah, it happened right here. I once experienced that. To you? Yes, I was trying to start in the morning to leave. It couldn't. So that engine is bad? Yeah, the engine was in a bad condition because of the temperatures. We are in the coldest country in Africa. I want us to do some press-ups, bro. Are you ready for it? So, what? We do the press-ups? Yes. And then what? We go outside? What the hell? You want to go outside? I think we should go outside. Cold? One more thing. I think we should remove our shirts and beanies. I don't have suspects behind. We don't care. This is so cool, man. Look at that. I love Lesotho, bro. So cold. I got a feeling. Can you see what it says? Ice is extremely dangerous. Do not walk on the ice. But guess who decided to walk on the ice? I decided to walk on the ice and I got punished. But you know what? That is the fun of being in AfriSki. Thank you. Are we going to skate? Skate or ski? Are we going to ski? We can try both of them. We'll see what's going on. What if I fall again? This was more like a lake. Okay. And it's frozen now. Wow. I think... You remember when we were in school? Yes. We had a lake like this. We had a lake. It used to get frozen and we'd walk on it. Back in the China days. But this one, I don't think is the type I support. Yeah. The temperature here is like minus six. When we were in school, it was minus 28, minus 30. So you can easily walk on there. And some people even ski on it. Yeah. Not this China. It was very cold. Problem. Wow. So cold. Can you believe this is African? I can't. I still have to pinch myself. Do you know? I posted a video and everyone is asking me. I saw some people even saying, Come on, man. This is Alaska. Stop laughing. They were saying, This is AI. This is not AI. It's AfriSki Resort. We're here in AfriSki. Yeah. 3,222 meters above sea level. That's insane. Yeah. And I have to say also, the air here is really crisp. It's very fine. Yeah. You know what's magical about it? It's the level of oxygen. The concentration of oxygen is a little lower here. That's why people, you know, you struggle to walk. Vehicles also struggle to move around. But this is what makes it different from any other place in the world. You know what I really love about the entire trip to Lesotho? Yeah. Right here at AfriSki, you get to see that the entire people of the country, Hey! Oh, it's the car. Are here. And even kids. Kids, they come here. They come here just to show themselves. This is the highlight of tourism this season in Lesotho. So this is the biggest sale for us. Okay. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So this is the one event or activity in tourism that allows more people to come into Lesotho so that when they come here from the snow, then they can see other parts of what we can offer as Lesotho. You're from Lesotho? I'm from Lesotho. What is so special about your country? Oh my God. It's a very peaceful country. I'm here as a travel agent. And I'm having my people playing around and I'm playing. I mean, sorry, I'm working in here. But now there's a sense of slowness, wellness, peace, compared to the busy area where I come from. So I get to recalibrate my mind and to rekindle my energy again. So I love this business because it gives me that and I love it in Lesotho. So which means that is a benefit you get from snow? Yes. Can we speed it up a little bit? You want to go higher? Okay. Hi. Bro, the people in this country are extremely friendly. You know what? This is a reunion. And just because where we used to live in China was extremely cold. It was. You used to play with snow, right? Yeah. But do you know how to ski though? I do know how to ski. Oh really? Yeah. I don't know how to ski. You're going to fall. No, no. I have to watch you ski, bro. I have to watch you ski. I've always wanted to see you. And here we are. He's here. I can't see him. I've been looking for him everywhere. To the space right now. I don't want to be at the beginner side, man. Like I'm a pro, man. I've been skiing all my life, man. How come they brought me to this part of the world, bro? I'm going to have a nice laugh today. I'm going to have a very nice laugh. Watch this. I've been skiing from the very first day that I was born to today. So we'll meet you outside. Are we really doing this? Yeah, we are. But that should be fun, man. Let's go do that one. Can we go and do that one? I want to do it one more time. That was fun. But that was fun. That was so much fun. I would love to do this again and again and again. Oh no. My hands are gone. That's what I'm saying. Just imagine. More than a snowman in Africa. Can we still call him a snowman though? I think we are in the kingdom of resorting. So we can call him a snow king, right? Let's crown him. Where's the hat? Let's crown him. There. Yes! There you go. That's a snow king right here. We are right here in Afa. And it's more like 50 kilometers away from Tigre. You know where we're going? We're actually going to the hottest place on the entire planet. But listen, even being here, I feel hot. But I like the culture in here, man. It seems like all the men in here weren't scared. I think I myself am scared and pitied, bro. But anyway, it is what it is. Come along with us. Let's go. Geez. Afa, Afa, Afa. Last one. Last two. Let's go, man. Literally, this is where we're going. All our windows, please. They are using the towel to cover. Because of the heat, the AC is on. But I guess we need an extra protection. Wow. How many hours more for us together? Right now? Yeah. You see the blue thing over there, right? That's where we're going. Just 15 minutes. 15 minutes. Bro, it's extremely hot. Is it hot? Today is not hot. Today is not hot, guys. Are you serious? I'm not sweating. Look. But we just came out of the AC. That's why. Some other days, as soon as you got out from the car, boom, you start sweating. The heat is insane. But it looks as if we are on the mass. Like we are driving in mass, you know. Wow. Because if you check around me, literally, you see it's just rocky and sandy mountains, all looking brown. This is not normal, bro. For me, it's normal. See what he's doing. He's drinking more water. You look dehydrated, man. I have to drink more water, bro. If you don't like the heat, don't come here. But if you love adventures, why not? It's super hot out here and I can't believe that people live out here. How do you think the people out here feel? I'm going to find out how they're going to live here. Because it's insane, man. Yeah. Hey, how are you? It's so hot every day. Yes, it's too hot every day. Too hot every day and how do you survive? So I found myself in a typical Afar village. This is how the people of Afar build their houses. And you know, in Ethiopia, you just have to drink coffee wherever you find yourself. Coffee? Coffee, bro. Look at how you're sweating, bro. What happened to you? Like, it's hot and you're still drinking hot coffee. Yeah, bro. It's good to stabilize your temperature. My friend, stop lying to yourself. Stop lying to yourself. Can I have one coffee? It's so cool in here, man. How are you? I'm fine, I'm fine, man. How hot can it be sometimes? Hotter. You need more water to pour on yourself and to survive. And that's what I've been doing. Always pouring water on my body every one minute in here, okay? So you also live here. I mean, are you married? Yeah, he's married. One? Yeah, one. One. You can only marry one? You can marry four. Four? Yeah. I'm just melting, bro. Just melting. Look at this. Too hot, too hot, too hot, bro. And the AC is on. My goodness, I've never seen anything like this in my whole life, man. This is my first time and it's absolutely unbelievable, man. This is what we call the white paradise. Welcome to Afar. Where are we right now? We're at Lake Asali or the flood zone. Our first stop is Lake Asali, which is known to be one of the most iconic flat source landscapes in Africa. It is located about 120 meters below sea level, which makes it one of the lowest points in Africa. This place is among the hottest places on earth with a temperature of about 50 degrees Celsius. Let me advise you. Whatever you do, whenever you come in here, make sure you finish what you're doing and leave before the sand comes out. Because I feel dehydrated right now, even though I've drank almost two bottles of water, bro. Like, I feel dizzy. I'm not even kidding, bro. I'm not even kidding. Nah. Indeed, this is the hottest place on planet earth. It was formed millions of years ago when the Red Sea flooded into the Danakil area. Over time, the water trapped inland due to the extreme hotness of the area. The water eventually evaporated, leaving behind the layers of salt. Today, the salt from Lake Asali has become a major source of income for the Afar people as workers cut the salt into flat rectangular slabs from the dry lake surface. How often do you come here? In the high season, I come here every day. Every day. This is magical, man. I don't even know how to, you know, express myself because I've never seen any people like this before. This is what we should be calling the white paradise. Trust me, this is the best way to travel in Afar region, man. By just sitting on top of the car because the air feels so different right now, right? Yeah. In the car, it's extremely hot. So we decided to sit on top of the car, man. One love, one heart, together, we're all right. So we found a pool of water in the middle of nowhere and it's in the shape of an acorn. But I'm not a swimmer, so I'm scared of entering, bro. But apparently, you can never sink because of the concentration of salt in there. The salinity of the water is just like the Dead Sea, making it impossible for you to drown. Let me just try it and see. It's so hot. So hot? Yeah. Hey! Sure I'm not gonna go down? You can go under. Really? And the salinity also applies to even larger lakes in this region, making it possible for an Olympic swimmer whose feet does not touch water to swim in a larger lake like this. What a beautiful region. I love being here, man. Wow! We finally arrived at our hotel, yeah. This is what we call the Open Space Hotel. This is where we're gonna sleep tonight. This is our bed and we'll be watching the stars, you know. This is gonna be my first time sleeping up here, though. Look at that. I'm actually arranging the bed so I don't move it. Look at that. So this is where we'll be spending the night. That's insane. Fresh air. Looking up to the skies above. Chef, what are we eating today? Yes, soup and starter. Starter? Bro, you need to stay in this seven-star hotel, man. It actually is, if you look up, a million star. It's a what? A million? A million star hotel. No more seven. No more seven, bro. Million star. Million star hotel. Just look up, it's a million star hotel. You want to taste? Of course, I taste everything, man. It's 5am. We just woke up and we're heading to our other location, bro. It's so hot that I had to remove my shirt now. But I love this lake with an open space. It's just that I wish there was a fresh air blowing up, man. And unfortunately, it was a hot air. But anyway, where's the next adventure begin? We're back again from where we were last night. And we're just about to see the sunrise. But there's something that I must say, like, it feels like the aftermath of snow. But the aftermath of snow is extremely cold. But this place is extremely hot, bro. Like, whenever you're moving around, you feel the heat wave on your skin, bro. That's insane. But listen, I'm not complaining because I believe that this is definitely one of the best things that I've ever done, man. One of the best things I've ever done. Not even one, but the best thing that I've ever done. Where are we going now? We're going to the colorful, to the sulfur, iron and potassium oxidized area. Is it the place that is known to be the hottest place on our hottest place? Yes. On planet? On planet, yes. On the earth. On the earth? Yes. Okay. Is that why we have to wear shoes? Yes, because we're going to walk on the acids. On acids? Acids, yes. That's terrible. That's not terrible. That's a good experience. This is Dallol, which is the hottest inhabited place on earth. These colors that you're seeing are natural, not Snapchat filters, but the water in here is extremely acidic. I can't breathe, man. That's okay. It's good for the lungs, you know? It's good for the lungs. A little bit of sulfur is good for the lungs. That's what the doctors say. But why your background is so colorful? This is colorful because of the geothermal activity from underneath. As there is a full of minerals underneath, like a few meters underneath, there is sulfur, potassium, magnesium, iron, salt, and other minerals. So because of the geothermal activity, when these all minerals are reacting with each other, we can see boiling and bubbling. And normally, water gets boiled at 100 degrees Celsius, right? But that one is more than 100 degrees Celsius. So it's full of minerals because of the geothermal activity coming out from underneath. There is magma. Okay. You know what magma is, right? Yeah. The lava when it's inside the ground, it's called magma. When it's on the surface, it's called lava. And when it's dry, it's called lava rock. The rock that we can see here is a mixture of salt and sand. When the salt and sand is mixing each other, which is called sedimentary rock. So the sand is keeping it from falling down. But if the sand fell down, the rest of the thing will get collapsed. And as you can see, it feels like a sandy soil. But it's not. It's extremely hard as a rock. Yeah, so there is magma about two kilometers deep here. So an activity of the magma pushes the water up on the surface. And when the water comes on the surface boiled, the color starts to shine. So yellow is sulfur, green is potassium oxidized, and red is iron. And the white? White is also potassium. So the colors are dependent on the activity of the magma. This is insane. And it's so hot. It's hot. Like I showed you before the pH indicator, it's 100% acid. 100% acid. A natural acid. Temperature for today is actually 47 degrees. Bro. Nah. This is insane. I've never been to any place that is 47 degrees. Even the air that blows around you is extremely hot. As we get closer, the smoke from the volcano just enters your nose. So you gotta just swear what I'm wearing. I never knew it's this deep. It's been a little bit of a fire at the moment. But I think it's so worth it being here. Is it always like this? No, I've seen this place in so many shapes, you know. Yes, I've seen it with the lava. I've seen it with the smoke. So it's a matter of just, you can find lava and you can find also smoke. Walking on this lava seven months ago would definitely be something impossible because the entire place was filled with fire. And that's how it's called hell fire. Today, the fire has been vanquished. And at the end of the day, we get an opportunity to walk on the lava rock, man. Yeah. Oh my goodness. Do you see the lava? You see the lava? Oh my God. It's so reddish, man. It's so reddish. Is it your first time seeing this? Yes. Oh my goodness. Absolutely. It's gorgeous, man. Welcome to Africa.