Saturday, February 13th - Orange River, Namibia

This morning we were up at 6:30, had our bags out at 7:00 and down to breakfast for an 8:00 departure.  That allowed a bit of time to wander around and check out the view, which I didn't get a chance to see yesterday as I was washing clothes.  

We drove for a couple of hours to get to the Fish River Canyon.  The countryside was very barren looking but occasionally you had some green patches where the water level was obviously high enough for vegetation to survive.  Mainly it was rocky hillsides and flat plains with just some small shrubs that looked pretty dry and dead.  I sat in the back of the bus for this portion of the trip as I thought we were much closer to the canyon.  The ride was pretty windy and bumpy, especially one big bump just as we entered the canyon.  That one bounced us off the seat and almost to the roof of the bus and the landing was hard.  After we got back on the bus after seeing the canyon I moved back to the front of the bus.  It may be really hot up there but at least the ride is a bit smoother and the views are spectacular.  Besides, if our driver can stand it I figure I can too.

The Fish River Canyon is the second largest in the world and some say it is the largest. First or second is pretty immaterial because it is huge and it is impressive.  We got off the bus at the main view point and Arthur gave us a little introduction to the canyon.  There were also display boards which had information about the canyon itself as well as the animals and plants that could be found in the area.  We were going to do the easy walk to see the view.  If you wanted a real challenge you would do the 5 day, 80 km hike down to and along the river at the bottom of the canyon.  We saw the path down and it was really narrow with a chain strung between some firmly implanted rods.  There is no way I would ever make it down, let alone up again, especially given that I would have to be carrying with me everything I needed for the 5 day trip.

The walk was about two kilometres along the upper rim of the canyon.  Most of us kept a safe distance from the edge but others were braver and wandered out in many places to get the view down and some different pictures.  The canyon is very wide and it is deep.  The river meanders through the canyon creating tall straight edged islands with channels running around them.  There was a little water in the river but certainly not a lot.  Apparently you can do the main hike only at certain times of the year.  Even when the water level is low you are still not allowed in if it's rainy season.  There may be no rain in this area but rain in other areas causes flash flooding in the canyon so it can be dangerous.

I could have kept taking pictures throughout the hour we were out walking and enjoying the views.  It was all wonderful.  Every few steps the view seemed to change and yet it was always the same: a deep wide canyon with a ribbon of river meandering below at the bottom, and many different levels of rock hillsides carved out by the water over the past many centuries.  Some slopes down were gradual and some were incredibly steep.  Some of the islands that had been cut by the river over the years were high and some were low.  There were plateaus and shelves throughout the canyon and apparently even some caves although I never spotted any.   It was another sunny day and the sun and shade in the canyon really helped define its features.  It was a great way to spend an hour: walking and enjoying the incredible views.

The next part of our drive was to the hotel and that took about two hours.  The scenery along this portion started out the same as earlier but then we hit some higher mountains and went through a pass, which involved some curving roads so I was glad I was at the front.  The mountains (or hills) were very rocky and at times you really wondered what was holding them together.  However, they had survived for thousands of years so they will probably survive a few more.  

As we neared the end of our journey we were travelling along the Orange River looking at South Africa on the other side.  Because of the river they have irrigation and suddenly everything was very green.  There were huge fields of grapes everywhere.  These are table grapes not wine grapes.  We passed one town, which was really nothing more than a lot of shacks, and the guide said there were probably only 3,000 people living there now.  However, during harvest time there are about 30,000 people all living in these shacks.  Most of the homes were made of reeds from the river but some were tin or aluminum.  It's generally very hot here so you really don't need too much, especially if you are only staying for one harvest season and then heading back to your real home.  They did have lots of land around each of them though.  It wasn't as if they were all crammed in together.  There is a lot of land in Namibia so houses don't have to be crammed in together.  I'm sure these houses do not have electricity or water but maybe you can go without that for a harvest.  Toilets I'm not sure about but I'm guessing there may have been some shared facilities.

Our hotel is right on the Orange River.  The restaurant, bar, pool and most of the chalets face the river.  Some of the chalets are a bit further back but still close to the river.  They have canoes but really they are just rubber dinghies.  A couple of people went for a canoe ride but they didn't sound too thrilled about it.  The rest of us sat around the pool and restaurant area doing internet stuff, reading and relaxing.  After two nights in a tent in the hot desert and then six hours on the road yesterday, I think we were all tired out.

We had lunch as soon as we arrived around 2:00 and at the same time ordered our dinner for 7:30.  Dinner was outside overlooking the river and the temperature was perfect.  After dinner it was basically just some visiting and then bed time.