We leave Kolmanskop, because we go into the Fish River Canyon.
The wind whips the desert sand on the tarmac. Soon we reach fertile areas and the landscape becomes greener and greener. On good tgravel, it’s the last 70 kilometers to the canyon. We stop outside the park on a camp site so we can leave early tomorrow.
Even from the distance you can see the sharp-edged table mountains from which the canyon was formed.
Not by erosion, but by intrusion the broad valley came into existance through which the Fish River draws its tracks, but only the smaller portion of the canyon was formed by the river. After the Grand Canyon in the USA, the Fish River Canyon is the second largest in the world, but no less impressive.
It is 161 kilometers long and its depth varies between 450 to 550 meters. Until the origin of Earth’s evolution, one can watch. The steep embankments of dark rock emerged in the Precambrian. Two billion years ago, these layers were sandstone, shale and lava. By folding, pressure and heat they turned into meta morphous rock.This took place about a billion years before our era. The dark lines that run through the rock is cold magma originated 100 million years later. After a further 250 million years ago came the phase of erosion. A lake covered the whole of southern Namibia. At its base sediments were deposited. 500 million years ago there was a reduction in the Earth’s crust and the north-south valley was created by the collapse of the crust.
The incision through the Fish River was only in the Cenozoic about 50 million years ago.
Day trips in the canyon, even a partial descent are prohibited, as it always led to death casualities. Who wants to undertake the four-day walk, 85 kilometers, needs a very good condition. The hike can be made only in winter, the temperatures vary from 35 degrees to an impressive down to the freezing point. There are no cabins or camp sites and the hike will be notified in advance, per day maximum of 40 people are allowed in the canyon.
We are deeply impressed and continue, today we want to cross the border to South Africa. We inform Joachim and Tina in Cape Town that we will arrive in the coming days.