Advertisement
Published: November 5th 2012
We are awoken by the birds that overnighted in our bungalow as they sing for a short while and then leave. After about an hour we also go outside and walk the 10 min walk to the main cabin for breakfast. The red mountains are nicely illuminated by the rising sun and there are birds in almost every tree chirping and looking active.
The lodge has one of the largest breakfast rooms that we have seen on this trip however the offer is very similar a buffet plus an a la carte egg dish. There is a nice large mural on the wall next to us showing the area that we have driven through the prior day and we can even see the ruined train stations where we stopped on our way. However what we like most are the sparrows that eat the crumbs from the tables and fly from room to room always following the food.
We leave the lodge driving towards Fish River Canyon our goal for the day and situated about 25 km from the lodge. The road is rutted so the going is slow. After about 10 km we reach the entrance gate and after paying the entrance fee receive a map which is really a surprise for Namibia's National Parks. We continue to the main viewing point which looks really impressive but we still do not see the canyon and are wondering if we are missing something.
But then when we climb on the viewpoint and we get blown away by the view which is very similar to the Grand Canyon. Fish River Canyon is claimed to be the second largest in the world after Grand Canyon - there is a bit of controversy on that - but even if it is not it is impressive. As we return to the car we notice a bird flying repeatedly into the car, our assumption is that it was eating insects that were stuck to the front of the car.
Our next stop on our tour of the rim is the hiking trail viewpoint. The only hiking trail through the canyon starts here but there are strict restrictions on going down - you cannot go even on day hikes without a permit for which you need lots of things including a medical certificate of good health. The full hike takes about 5 days. We examine the hiking trail from above and take in the great views and then move on.
For the next viewpoint we pass again by the main viewpoint and continue on a short very rocky road that is not shown on our map but is very used by the tourists. There is a short hike at the end to another view of the canyon where we see our first succulents of the area which otherwise is really dry.
Last viewpoint of our tour is the Sulphur Springs Viewpoint. It is a bit off the main road which makes for more solitude and the views are great. At the bottom there is a sulphur spring where hikers camp on the 5 day trip.
After leaving the National Park we stop at a gas station and then it is on to South Africa. After 1h we reach the paved road and then continue south towards the border. The landscape is desolate and featureless until we finally see the mountains on the South African side. Right before the crossing of the Orange River which is the border between Namibia and South Africa we see the only vineyards in Namibia that use the water from the river and the fertile soil for some supposedly good wine. And then we reach the border and are immediately lost as the border is closed due to construction and there is no clear way to proceed regarding getting the exit visa. We enter the closest building and they tell us that we need to go first in a different building and from there we get all needed stamps and approvals and get back to the car but we are still lost how to get to South Africa as the road is definitively closed. Finally an army man takes pity on us and shows us a hidden way that we can use to cross to the other side. We cross the bridge and are officialy in South Africa however we still have to pass through the border and we are a bit discouraged as there is a huge line of trucks waiting for admission. After a bit of waiting however we are waived in front of them and then complete a few forms as we move from person to person and finally enter South Africa proper.
The road immediately becomes curvy as it snakes through the mountains which is in contrast to the straight lines on the Namibian side and makes for a few long waits behind trucks as we try to find an opportunity to pass them. After leaving the mountains it becomes straight again and we make good time. One thing that we notice is that there are more flowers on the side of the road and stop in a rest area to take a few pictures.
The largest town on the stretch of road is Springbok and this is where we have to leave the main road and drive about 20 km to Naries Namakwa. We are lucky that we have a good description about how to pass through the city as for the first time in quite some time the roads are not well marked and we wouldn't have found the correct road easily. The road is paved but really curvy and it rises and falls abruptly and therefore we have to drive slower. The hills are green though and full of flowers it seems and we cannot wait to arrive and examine them closer. After arriving at the reception we notice a multitude of weaver birds in the trees in front of the main house that are building their new homes and repairing the old ones and are really gregarious.
To our surprise and delight we are upgraded to a separated house in the middle of the blooming flowers. The house is large with two bedrooms, two bathrooms separated by a large living room with fireplace. Outsides in the back we have a terrace with a firepit and in front we have private parking. Given the cold that we already can feel (at nightime it is near freezing temperatures) we group all heat making equipment in one room and bathroom and keep them at reasonable temperatures while the rest of the house is much colder.
After moving our bags inside we brave the cold and go outside to take a few pictures of the flowers which unfortunately are almost closed already for the night. What we find is a nice maintained trail passing next to our cabin that we take. We don't get far as we stop at almost every step to take a pictures of the views and flowers. After darkness descends we return to our room and drive back to the main house for dinner which starts exactly at 7.
The dinner has probably the best presentation that we have seen on our trip and is also quite yummy. There the dining room is full and the majority of the other people are from the UK and South Africa and retired and they visited the flower area that we intend to visit the next day so we listen to their descriptions and try to get a feeling about the stage of the flowering in the Namaqualand National Park.
After dinner we return to our cabin and after some stargazing given that this is our last good opportunity in Africa we retire for the night.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.152s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 7; qc: 144; dbt: 0.0969s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
