Fish River Canyon, Namibia

I was 85km weary, had accumulated a five-days-layer of dirt and more than my fair share of bloody blisters after hiking five days through Africa’s largest canyon. And I was smiling. I had been warned that the hike would be arduous and the conditions sub-rustic, but I had not been advised of the stark beauty, ever-changing pastel colours, intense stillness and myriad of stars we were privileged to view in Namibia.

The Fish River Canyon hike entails walking from Hobas down to the river valley and 83 kilometres along the canyon to the oasis of Ai-Ais by using the river and a decidedly inaccurate map as a guide, sleeping under the stars and drinking river water. There are no rest camps or any other facilities along the route and we carried all our food and belongings in straining backpacks. When I was first offered a place on the trip I was most likely decidedly tipsy to take up the challenge, but every moment of discomfort was worth it, even just to prove that city-loving, self-proclaimed princesses can rough it up and enjoy it.

Traveling with my uncle, a cousin and an athletic friend from England, we set out from Cape Town with the nine hour drive to the Namibian border stretching along the unwavering highway before us. The scenery we drove through up the west coast of South Africa was mainly desert – flat sand lands occasionally punctuated by dry thorn trees and dusty succulents. After the draining drive everybody perked up at the shabby yet overly officious border control and before too long we were stamped through to a different country! The sky seemed somehow distilled – bluer and bigger, the desert drier and the horizon stretched even further. It was a relief, a few hours later, to pull up to the entrance of Ai-Ais hot springs hotel and campsite. The recently renovated facilities are clean and comfortable, apparently a marked improvement, and our self-catering cottage was exactly what we needed, especially before heading out to sleep on sand!

Ai-Ais (pronounced “I-ice”) are the local Nama words for “burning hot”. The natural thermal springs serve as an oasis in the arid Karas region and due to the extreme heat of the region both the resort and the hike close during the summer season. Prospective hikers are all required to obtain a recent medical certificate, proving them healthy and fit enough to take on the canyon. We also tentatively signed our lives away on scarily comprehensive indemnity forms.

The night we arrived in Ai-Ais we braaied outside our cottage and discussed our daunting mission. We ate well and slept even better, fully aware that for the next few days we would be eating non-perishables out of our backpacks and sleeping on the ground; an inch-deep foam “mattress” separating our sleeping bags from the sand.

Day one entailed a bustling morning of preparation; painstakingly packing, unpacking and repacking our backpacks, incessantly measuring weight against essentials . Needless to say, changes of clothes did not feature high – we judged food as being essential. My aunt had spent hours before our trip designing meals, buying and allocating food and supplies; life-savers such as mosquito spray, head torches, matches and the countless necessities that I would never, ever have thought to have taken. On a more delicate note, we also had to take along plenty of toilet paper and a shovel... no need for details on that one! We thus divided the loot between ourselves and strapped the bottles of water to the outside of our packs – these we would constantly refill along the way. Dressed not for style but for comfort and with a backpack that I struggled to put on by myself, we set off – to a minivan. From Ai-Ais one needs to drive the forty kilometres to the start of the hike: the intimidating, steep descent into the bottom of the canyon. It officially begins a 10km drive away from Hobas, the rustic campsite and small office officiating the entry of all wannabe hikers. Registering with them is somewhat important – they are next to the only people who know where you are and by what day you should reach your destination!

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