Fish River Canyon
The canyon the tourist boards call the second largest on earth, 160 kilometres long and 550 metres deep, in the far south where nobody gets to — and with a five-day trail along its floor booked up to a year in advance
- When to go
- September 17° · 1 rainy day
- Per day
- €€€price 3 of 5
- How many days
- 2days
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The Fish River Canyon does not fit the northern loop, and that is why it is empty: eight hours south of Windhoek, on the road to South Africa, with a rim viewpoint that gives everything in an hour and a floor trail that gives everything in five days. It is done either as an extension of the loop with Lüderitz and Kolmanskop, or as part of the road from Cape Town — not as a day trip.
The canyon is the Fish river's cut into the plateau, 160 kilometres long, up to 27 wide and 550 metres deep, formed five hundred million years ago by faulting and then deepened by a river that today flows only after rain. The viewpoint at Hobas, at the northern end, is where you come: the path from the car park to the rim, a railing, the view down to the river in its bends, and silence. Park entry is paid at the Hobas gate — about a hundred and sixty Namibian dollars per person plus the vehicle, check — and the same ticket lets you drive along the rim to the other viewpoints, finest in the afternoon when the shadow enters the canyon.
The floor trail is why people plan a year ahead: five days and 85 kilometres from Hobas to the Ai-Ais spa, without a path, over rock and sand along the river, carrying everything on your back. The permit is from NWR, about five hundred Namibian dollars, requires a medical certificate, a group of at least three and a booking up to a year ahead; it is open only from May to September because in summer the temperature in the canyon passes forty-five. This is one of the hardest hikes in southern Africa and not for anyone carrying a pack for the first time; anyone who does it stops talking about others.
Ai-Ais at the southern end is a spa with hot springs of sixty degrees, a pool and a camp, where the trail ends and everyone rests; Hobas at the northern end has a camp by the gate. Further south is the border with South Africa across the Orange river, with vineyards along the river and rafting trips; to the west is Lüderitz with Kolmanskop, three hours — and that is the southern loop done in four days from Windhoek, with Keetmanshoop and the quiver tree forest on the way. Everything is far and everything is empty, and that is the south.
What to see in Fish River Canyon
The main viewpoint at Hobas
The canyon rim with a railing, ten kilometres from the gate, with the view of the river in its bends 550 metres below. In the afternoon, when the shadow enters the canyon; in the morning everything is backlit. An hour, and silence.
The five-day trail
85 kilometres along the floor from Hobas to Ai-Ais, May–September, with an NWR permit, a medical certificate and a group of three. One of the hardest hikes in southern Africa; booked up to a year ahead and not taken lightly.
Ai-Ais
A spa with sixty-degree hot springs at the southern end of the canyon, with a pool and a camp among the rocks. The end of the trail and the place for a rest day; also reachable by car, by road from Hobas (gravel, about ninety minutes).
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The quiver tree forest
At Keetmanshoop, on the road from the north: aloes three hundred years old from which the San made quivers, and the Giants' Playground of stacked basalt blocks. Sunset and stars; an hour off the road, on a farm with a camp.
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Lüderitz and Kolmanskop
Three hours west: a German town on the Atlantic and an abandoned mining town being swallowed by sand. Kolmanskop entry with the morning tour — check the amount; photographers stay until noon. This is the western arm of the southern loop.
The Orange river
The border with South Africa an hour south of Ai-Ais, with vineyards in the desert and rafting from one day to several. For those continuing to Cape Town — the Noordoewer crossing works all day.
Two things you probably did not know
The Fish River Canyon is the second largest in the world after the Grand Canyon: a hundred and sixty kilometres long and up to five hundred and fifty metres deep. The river at the bottom does not flow for most of the year but stands in pools.
The canyon is open only from May to September, because summer is too hot for hiking. The trail through it is eighty-five kilometres and takes four or five days, with no point at which you can turn back.
Ready for Fish River Canyon?
Within reach from here
Places sorted by straight-line distance from Fish River Canyon — day trips or weekends.
Namibia
→A country you drive rather than visit: about four people per square kilometre, gravel roads without end, and a safari done in your own car as in Kruger — only without the fence
South Africa
→A country of long distances and reversed seasons, driven on the left throughout
Kenya
→A safari charged by the day, not by the trip — a reserve whose gate fee doubles in July, while a whole trip costs only half as much more
Chile
→A country 4,300 kilometres long and 180 wide — driest desert on earth to glacier, without a single turn
All 277 places we write about sit on one page — narrow them down by continent, country, price or what you are travelling for.
Within reach from here: Sossusvlei, Windhoek and Swakopmund
See how much of that actually suits you — or pin Fish River Canyon if you have been.
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