Canon Lodge Fish River Canyon

... in 40 minutes we&#8217;re heading down the road again. <br><br>We stop in Springbok to gas the truck and the crew buys more food supplies.<br><br>As we head further north, the landscape becomes more barren. We finally reach the South African / Namibian border at 4:25 PM and are processed within 40 minutes. The South Africans are building a brand new border crossing at this location and want it ready in time for tourists traveling to see the 2010 ...

... while they enjoyed their good snacks and drinks. We sat at the table next to them playing Lindsey's broken ipod and salivating for food and drinks. Finally Grandpa Tim came to the rescue and brought us some drinks. The sunset immediately got a lot better. Jackie treated the group to rum and cokes. Kaito, the little Japanese boy, had one and turned bright red and passed out. The rest of us had a dance ...

... We had been dropped at the site by another overland truck as there was a problem with our truck and needed some on the spot repairs so when everyone else had drinks to toast the sunset our group sadly had nothing until just before sunset the truck arrived and our esky with drinks so we had a lovely sunset toast to the canyon and our trip.Back at the campsite another warm campfire helped with the chilly night.

... it was hard to be enthusiastic with the sun glaring down on us, but we all sluggishly got of the truck anyway. Once we had peeked down in the canyon of course I had the photographer&#8217;s urge to capture it all, and I noticed other people had become energized as well. Heini began an explanation of the canyon but I had already edged away to take photos below, he tends ...

... It seems that when Bina asked me if I wanted anything and I mentioned that we should all have water she interpreted that to mean that we would bring our own water. The dunes were really beautiful and were a rust color and the size of small mountains. We pulled up to one and decided to go hiking. It was harder than it looked because the sand was loose and soon Bina decided to stop and the rest of us continued on. From the top the view was incredible and we slid down on our ...

Today I visited the 2nd largest canyon in the world - the fish river canyon. It is 161km long and at the biggested it is 27km wide and 550 metres deep.<br><br>It was a pretty spectacular view, and we got there to watch the sunset which was also very pretty (possibly helped by the sunset G&amp;Ts and cheese&amp;crackers!!!!)<br ...

... the border between SA and Namibia at that point - illegal immigration would not have been tricky for us! It was a very calming and pretty experience, punctuated by small moments of slight panic as we headed over the, admittedly small and tame, rapids. Everyone survived, which unfortunately meant no more space on the truck for us to stretch out - shame.<br><br>I<br>

On the way North we stopped off at Fish River Canyon which was impressively large though you can't do day trips down into it anymore. In the evening we stopped off at a farm for the night and had our first bit of game, Springbok pie. Climbed the hill next to the camp site just before sunset and had a brilliant view ...

... off at one view point and met the truck at another so had a gorgeous 30-40 minute walk along the rim. As expected took a heap of photos. I was busy, looking for scorpions but unfortunately didn't find one. Some of the others did though. I wonder if you can eat Scorpions. I expect they would be quite nice on the braai. I have been loving all the different foods here... so far I've had Ostrich carpaccio, Kudu carpaccio (I LOVE carpaccio), lambs livers (which China calls ...

... signs, and the advice they bear. Or maybe not. Spending the night in Ai-Ais gave us the opportunity to gauge the kind of experience - and place, and crowd - that we'd rather avoid when we travel. The Fish River Canyon today seems to me the perfect embodiment of the Lonely Planet Effect, of which I have written in the past*. Incredible natural environment that after being 'discovered' by the first European travelers, equals fantastic business opportunity - in this case ...