Tuesday 16 January 2018. Photos.
Highlights: Fish River Canyon

Today we faced a 600 km drive across Namibia. Despite this and the at times very bumpy drive the time appeared to fly as we got to watch the amazing harsh landscape in front of us and the occasional animal that somehow survives in this environment.

We made great time to our campsite for the day and had a late lunch just after 2 pm, not bad considering we left camp at 6.30 am although I had to get up at 5 am for my 5.30 am pickup to get back to the campsite for breakfast and packing. Still not a bad bargain for air conditioning during the night and a shower before the pick up.

The highlight of the day was the visit to Fish River Canyon. We left camp around 4.30 pm after I had another shower to cool down. It took roughly 30 minutes to get to our drop of point for a short 2.5 km hike to a viewing point for sunset. I realised immediately I should have prepared better for this short hike in hot weather but being almost out of Namibian currency and with the campsite not accepting US and their ATM and ETPOS being down there wasn’t many options.

The hike provided some great views but you have to be aware of the strong breeze that could potentially sent you into the canyon unexpectedly. We got the the viewing platform around 1.5 hour before sunset, I think it would have been better if we had delayed the start of our experience by an hour but apparently people have complained that they needed more time at the canyon but no one from this group would have done that.

Sunset bought a stunning display of colour across the Fish River Canyon, the second biggest canyon in the world behind the Grand Canyon.

A few members of the group wanted to stay and take more photos after sunset I went to the truck and started feeling unwell and dehydrated. I asked to be dropped at the bar at the campsite and used the last of my money for two cans of Spirite but they only provided temporary relief. While I barely eat anything at dinner I did stay around to complete my rostered clean up duties before walking 400+ metres back to my room.

The air conditioning in the room only managed to get the temperature down to around 24 degrees but better than 30. I’ll have to be careful tomorrow with fluids and ASAP get money out and buy lots of drinks both water, a sport drink (if available) and soft drinks. The desert atmosphere might be getting the better of me otherwise it might be the long travel over the past two months.