February 26, 2014: First thing this morning we went rafting, swam, and jumped off boulders into the Gariep River (a.k.a. Orange River).
NOTE: This post is one of many covering our time on the fantastic GAdventures Dunes, Deltas and Falls tour.
We then set out for our campsite, crossing the border into Namibia at the Vioolsdrift – Noordoewer border crossing.
After quickly setting up camp, we headed out to enjoy the sunset at Fish River Canyon. Fish River Canyon is located in Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier National Park and, at 56km long, it is the largest canyon in Africa. It is the second largest canyon in the world, after the Grand Canyon in Arizona, United States.
UPDATE: We visited the Grand Canyon later in 2014 on our epic Canadian and United States road trip in Camper Dan.
Fish River Canyon was nominated in 2002 as World Heritage Site and currently remains on the tentative list. The photos illustrate why we believe this canyon is worthy of World Heritage Site status – and the photos only begin to do this magical place justice! Also, see if you can spot the rainbows in three of the photos.
As we walked along the canyon rim to a picnic area – where we enjoyed wine and cheese whilst watching the sunset – I spotted this snake.
I mentioned it to one of our tour leaders who checked it out and informed me to stand guard next to it whilst our group filed into the picnic area so that nobody got too close. I don’t remember if we ever confirmed what type of snake it was but apparently it was “going to kill us”. Eeek! 😉
Accommodation:
- Tents! But, if camping isn’t your style, check out other accommodation options in the Fish River Canyon region of Namibia.
TIP: We use World Nomads for travel insurance when we travel internationally. We believe they offer the best coverage for the money and they are super easy to work with! You can get a quote using the widget on our Resources page.