After crossing the border to Namibia and a stopover including some pool time in Ghanzi we arrived in Mariental. As it is located at the border of the Kalahari desert and meerkats prefer such areas we went out on a mission to find them. We found a lot of beautiful red sand but unfortunately not one meerkat.
We also went to see the largest dam of Namibia, the Hardap Dam which blocks the Fish River that formed the impressive Fish River Canyon that we visited the next day. On our way there we took a stopover at the Quiver Tree Forest and the Giant’s Playground. Kokerbooms look like trees but are actually aloes. They are 200-300 years old and we had the luck to visit them in one of the two months of the year they bloom. The Giant’s Playground right next to those beautiful trees looks like baby giants had built towers with their building blocks.
When we arrived on our campsite in Ai-Ais we immediately jumped into the hot springs. After so many cold nights and mornings we couldn’t wait to warm up our bodies and we stayed in there until our fingers reached that bathtub look. The next morning, we did the same but this time indoors.
But we also wanted to explore the canyon and therefore took off for a little hike in the afternoon, followed by some jogging and for the golden hour we drove to Hobas to enjoy the most spectacular view into the canyon at Hell’s Corner. Right there we met a group of hikers who got ready for their five-day hike through the canyon. As this 85km hike ends right at our campsite in Ai-Ais we had seen how other hikers looked like at the end of it and despite our deepest respect for such an achievement we were sure that this was definitely not the kind of pleasure we were looking for.
Back on our campsite we connected with three girls from the US and Cape Town who had set up their tent right next to our spot and gazed together at the tremendous sky full of stars.
Leave a reply