Grande View Lodge Fish River Canyon

... after another with their white blossoms looking like bouquets on the trees. Vineyards mix with the orange groves. At one pit stop we buy a 5 kg. (11 lb.) case of mandarin style oranges for just 30 Rand (about $4.25 US).<br><br>The clouds cannot restrain the sun's rays and by 9:30 they begin to sprinkle across the landscape; by 10 AM it is mainly sunny and by 11 AM there are no clouds left and it lasts for the duration of the day.<br><br>Just ...

We arrived in the Fish River Canyon early in the afternoon. The Fish River Canyon is the second largest in the world, measuring 160 km long, up to 27 km wide and in places almost 550 metres deep. Our Truck was having some problems, so we had to hitch a ride from the Acacia truck, another overland company we saw many times on our trip. They drove us to the canyon and we walked for about a half hour along ...

... led into a pool..so we got to swim and have a nice shower :). then we headed into namibia!<br><br>we havent seen too much yet, but in a few hours we are headed out to hike along the border of the canyon for a few hours.<br><br>the food has been excellent! sorry no pictures this time...internet is very very slow :)<br><br>I probably wont post for a few days...internet is hard to find!<br><br>tomorrow we head out towards the \sand dunes.<br><br>Taljk to you soon!!

... to make a quivver for their poison arrows.Soon we crossed the Fish river which was low for the seasonand then soon we passed through the Fish River Canyon National Park gate and saw oryx, springbok and ostriches again on this gravely ,rocky hilled plain. We came to the canyon campsite of Hobas around 3pm. The campsite was well shade by planted trees and was a welcome relief from the blazing sun and cool ...

... far away and as we clowned around and took pictures the sun set behind the silvery mountains. Our walk back was longer then we expected and we set out in straggly groups, Kevin and I taking lots of photos along the way. <br><br>When we got back to the campsite Hieni had come a long way with dinner and we gratefully set to work eating.<br><br>Tuesday, September 8, 2009<br ...

... as even with Jaimie helping me out with the water I was really light headed. We took off after and started to search for a camp site after an hour driving because the girls had to start preparing their food for Sabbath. We finally found a place called Batesda which was really nice and a little expensive but for the facilities we had was well worth it. It was a little ironic though that the place was a Christian lodge/ camp site where the girls would celebrate their Jewish ...

Destination 358<br><br>km178'154<br><br>Heading north to Orange River, which creates the natural separation between Namibia and South Africa, I already entered a completely deserted environment. I proceed to first African Landborder crossing. Here the protocoll:<br><br>Crossing Start (South Africa): 12:20<br>Crossing End (Namibia): 13:05<br>Duration: 45 minutes (ridiculously quick!)<br>Amount of bribe: No<br>Treatment by officials ...

And so we were off. 21 passengers of mixed nationality and 4 Kenyan crew in one big old truck, hurtling up the west coast of South Africa and into the dust of Namibia. Our first night's camp at a vineyard, with accompanying wine tasting, helped break the ice a little bit (we certainly discovered that Kenyans are NOT natural table tennis players!) but names were ...

... to get in the mini rapids we stayed in the shallows before heading back up to camp for a cooked breakfast. Rest of the morning was free. I sorted, once again, our locker whilst Oliver dismantled the tent and cleaned our mouldy old one, which I fear is beyond repair. There ain't no way I am sleeping in it.... it stinks. Picture a mouldy loaf of bread wrapped up for 6 weeks... now put your nose in that and take a big whiff... welcome to our old tent. Poooweeeee! Our new ...

... looks like we can stay: I felt like we unlocked the best-kept secret of this part of Africa. But hold your breath and bear with me, as the guy at the campsite's reception shutters our hopes: it is N$100 each plus another hundred for the site. It sounded rather expensive to say the least, considering that the night before we've spent R60, about N$60, for the two of us to camp in Springbok! The problem now is that we only have R200, and there aren't any ATMs or credit ...