We were the only ones staying. The
ablution facilities were nicer than the bathrooms in any home I've
ever owned. It was really a well built campsite.
But it was only a way station on our
way further south. We were heading toward the Fish River Canyon. The
next night, we stopped just a bit north of the canyon at the Cañon
Roadhouse. In this campground, we were not alone. We had plenty of
company, including a cat who seemed to adopt us for the night. The
Cañon
Roadhouse is a fascinating place. They have a restaurant/store that
is decked out with old cars. Some of them are just show pieces.
Others have been remodeled into fireplaces. And in the middle of it
all is a huge wooden bar covered in license plates from many
different nations.
The
dinner was excellent. I had springbok steak. It was a different
flavor than beef, a bit tougher to cut and chew, but very good.
Syarra had sosaties (which essentially means kebabs) that had both
springbok and oryx. Carver had a chicken schnitzel, and Alrica had
butternut florentine. It was a crazy butternut squash dish,
delicious, with sauce and all kinds of flavors I couldn't identify.
Great dinner.
So
in addition to seeing so many animals, we have now eaten a huge
variety of unusual game in our time in Africa: springbok, oryx, kudu,
and warthog.
The
next morning we headed to Fish River Canyon. Now, the Fish River is
an interesting exception in Namibia. First, it is one of the few
rivers that has at least some water in it all year long. Second, it
is called the Fish River. Why is this so strange?
Well,
most rivers in Namibia have a name in a local tongue. So we saw the
Usab River and the Koigab River among others. Even those that have
western names, like the southern border of Namibia which is named for
William of Orange, generally have the German spelling or other
European spelling that is not English. The aforementioned southern
border river is usually spelled the Oranje River. But the Fish River
has a name in English. As far as I can tell, it is unique in that
regard. (I thought maybe the German word for fish was fish, so I
looked it up. No, apparently it is fisch. So this truly is an English
spelling.)
 |
| Fish River Canyon |
But
far more jaw-dropping than the name of the river is the canyon
through which it flows. It is both gigantic and geologically bizarre.
The Grand Canyon in Arizona is amazing, and as you would expect, it
is carved out by a river. But this canyon is different, only part of
it is carved by a river. Let me explain.
The
story starts millions of years ago, when there is a mountain range
here. But over time, it gets eroded down to being a plain. And
underneath is all this rock. Now, the sea moves in, and this part of
Namibia is under a shallow sea for a long time. Layers of sedimentary
rock get laid down on top of the old rock. The old rock, through time
and pressure becomes super dense metamorphic rock. So now we have a
deep layer of metamorphic rock and on top of it, many layers of
sedimentary rock.
The
sea recedes. But now it gets even better. A strange tectonic activity
occurs. There are two parallel faults. Essentially, two hunks of rock
(on the sides of the faults) are uplifted while the hunk of rock in
between the faults sinks downward. So it makes something like a
canyon. Though it isn't a canyon. It's called a graben (which means
trench). As if this weren't enough, an ice age comes, and a glacier
further carves out the graben, removing most of the layer of
sedimentary rock in the lower part.
Ice
age ended, a few hundred thousand years pass, and now a river starts
flowing, the Fish River (though there are no people around yet to
call it that.) The river follows the path of the graben, because it
is the easiest way to go. But the base of the graben is this dense
metamorphic rock, and the river doesn't have the power to cut down
into it. So it cuts sideways, basically spreading out across the
width of the graben, flattening it.
Then
continental drift comes along, and the mountains where the river has
its source are raised higher. Now the river is coming down at a
steeper angle and has more force to it. Now it can cut through the
metamorphic rock and starts cutting down into it like most river
canyons.
More
time (lots of it) passes and people arrive on the scene. And what do
we have here? It looks like a canyon in a canyon. I suppose
technically it is a canyon in a graben, but let's not split hairs.
The
canyon is beautiful, huge, impressive. It makes you feel small like
all great huge natural features do. It is difficult to capture the
magnitude of it in pictures.
 | |
| Fish River Canyon |
From
May to September, a limited number of hikers are allowed to hike into
the canyon. But at most thirty per day. And when you get in, it is a
five day hike down to the end where you get out. You have to pack
everything with you going in, and pack everything with you coming
out. Getting a permit for that must be done far in advance.
And
the worst part is the beginning. We saw where the hikers begin their
trek, and it is a steep (at times almost vertical) path. A few parts
have a chain to help you, but many do not. It is supposed to be 1.5
km to reach the river from the beginning of the path with a nearly
500 m change in elevation. Some hikers take upwards of two hours to
make the climb down. I don't think it is for me. I like to hike, but
I don't think I want to hike anything that steep for that long
carrying that much weight on my back.
 |
| Where the Five Day Hike begins |
At
the southern end of the Fish River Canyon is Ai-Ais. This is a
natural hot spring (65 degrees Celsius). We camped here. It was very
hot when we arrived, so we decided to take a nice swim in their
swimming pool. Clearly the swimming pool is heated by water from the
spring. No, it was not 65 degrees Celsius (which is 149 degrees
Fahrenheit), but it was no cooler than the air outside. So we
couldn't get any relief from the heat there. The only slight relief
was when you stepped out of the pool and the water on your body
evaporated. But that only lasted a few seconds. (And at the same
time, the brick surrounding the pool was so super heated by the sun
that you were nearly burning the souls of your feet.)
That
was our last night in Namibia. The next day was crossing the border,
which is an adventure I suppose, but not one that makes good reading.
From there we headed all the way south to Cape Agulhas, the
southernmost point in Africa. Of course, I have mentioned that in my
post “Little Things Amuse Me” so there is no need to hash it out
again.
If
anyone is considering an African safari, I can say with some
experience that a self-drive safari through Namibia is a very
satisfying way to go.
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