Wed. 15th May
There’s a lot to do today (as there will be most days), so the alarm is set for 6:45. The sky is just starting to get light and sunrise itself is still half an hour away. As soon as we get down the ladder – getting the kettle on is the first priority – the sociable weaver birds live up to their name and come and see us. They really are the most delightful, curious little creatures and will scuttle up to us, look enquiringly and then scuttle on. Early morning seems to be their prime time for nest building and we watch them in the grass, pulling out straw like tufts and then flying off to their nests.
Tea and other priorities out of the way, we’re ready to get the tent down and get underway. After being so enamoured with the quiver trees yesterday, we decide that we want a second helping and head out on a 3km loop of 4×4 track. Once again, this is a great call and we find the spindly trees set against the stark landscape and the blue sky so photogenic. Cue more attempts to get the right composition and balance.
Whilst the track is billed as being for 4x4s, we never need to get out of 2WD. There were a couple of places where we were glad of the ground clearance under Mungo, he was never remotely taxed. This is all very reassuring to know that there are more levels of help available under the bonnet.
What a treat Mesosaurus has been. A very basic camp with only 6 sites, but what a setting. Utterly quiet apart from the chattering of the weaver birds. It reminded us of Magic Maguk back in Aus. And we hadn’t even seen the Mesosaurus fossils – no time as we had the Giants’ Playground to go visit.
We had some idea as to what to expect – big blocks of rock stacked one on top of the other – but we really had no idea of the scale or the area over which the blocks were scattered. It was still only around 9:30, so the light was still fairly decent and we wandered around trying to find a way to tell a story or convey how we felt about being in such a strange landscape. As a bonus, we spotted a Rock Hyrax scuttling amongst the rocks and he stayed still just long enough for Janet to get a shot of him from distance
By the time we’d finished, it was definitely time for coffee. Fortunately, the town of Keetmanshoop was only about 30mins away and Janet located a promising coffee shop. After a day with at best intermittent phone signal we were badly behind on even basic keeping up with the world (let alone our Wordle streaks), so there was much joy to have 4G phone signal and WiFi in the coffee shop. So, one mug of coffee soon disappeared and I managed to persuade Janet that we should have brunch here and then we could complete the remaining 3hrs to Fish River Lodge for tonight’s stay. Win!
Fish River Canyon is the second biggest canyon in the world but is much less visited or well known than the largest canyon. I have vivid memories, from our RTW trip, of the viewpoint looking out over a U-bend in the canyon, and I’ve seen some beautiful pictures of the canyon at sunrise/sunset, so it was natural that this was one of the top priorities for this trip. As it turns out, that viewpoint (and some of the classic photos) are taken from the east side of the canyon, and we are staying at Fish River Lodge on the west side. So, we won’t get the classic / clichéd pictures, but will it still be stunning?
We get our first clues that all will be well once we turn off the main road and head towards the lodge. There’s about 80km to cover and the road is the worst that we’ve experienced to date (4×4 track to one side). However, as we drive in, the road conditions get worse, the views get better and the scenery gets more dramatic. Of course, Mungo barely breaks sweat. Then at last, we can see the lodge, perched on the edge of the cliff with a line of chalets on either side. The contrast with Mesosaurus, couldn’t be starker. I think we are going to be well looked after here. And oh, the views! The motto of the lodge is ‘On the Edge of Eternity’ and as you stand looking out over the huge expanse of canyon, you can’t really argue with that.
Our first decision is whether to sign up for any activities as we are here for two nights. Given the heat, the half and one day hikes into the canyon were clearly out of the question, but Janet was of the view that we should go for the (guided) day trip in 4×4 down into the canyon. (Spoiler alert – this was a great decision. See tomorrow’s post). We were somewhat tempted by the sundowner drive – be driven out to the viewpoint and then have a G&T while watching the sun set. There is no doubt that we will do this several times on this trip. But not today.
Instead, we opt for the DIY version. There are walks out either side of the lodge along the cliff edge, and we have a bottle of gin and some (fairly disgusting) lemon/lime drink we picked up from the Spar on our first day out. Mix the two together and put in one of our Chilly bottles (thank you, Alexa) and head out on the shorter of the two trails an hour before sunset and we’re sorted. So, we’re sitting on the cliff edge, a couple of promontories along from the lodge; the sun is setting behind us; we have a homebrew snifter; the texture, contours and colours across the canyon are captivating; and the sheer size of the landscape is almost overwhelming. It’s just glorious. Whether the camera is able to capture it all is another matter – I won’t really know until we get home and I’m able to devote some serious time and computing power to processing the pictures, but we are very happy.
As we get back to the lodge, the sun has gone and the sky is turning a deep crimson colour. There are (of course) quiver trees to pose in front of the glowing sky, but as I turn through 360o the sky just wraps around. We feel as if we are poised on the edge of eternity.