The Fish River Canyon in Southern Namibia is considered the second largest canyon in the world, after the Grand Canyon, and is 161 km long, 27 km wide, and 550 m deep. It is famous for its tough 70-90km hike, which is completed at the hiker's own pace, with no designated huts or stops. Hikers carry all food, clothes, tents and cooking equipment. We were invited to join a group hiking the canyon in five days, and couldn't miss the opportunity to experience this. We originally planned the hike for August 2024, but that was a particularly dry year and we had read reports of people running out of water, or getting dehydrated or sick, we decided to move the hike out a year. This is the story of our hike.
Day 1 - The Descent
- Time: 9:15 - 16:00
- Distance: 9km inc descent
- Camped: Just after the Vespa
Our Fish River hiking adventure started on 24 August 2025 at Hobas campsite. We all woke up around 6am and started preparing for the hike. First Werner and I enjoyed our last cooked breakfast - scrambled eggs with onion, chilli and tomato. (It was supposed to be breakfast wraps, but we stupidly left the wraps in the car, which had now been transferred to Ai-Ais!). After breakfast, Gerbert's sister Karla kindly ferried us in groups of 3, the 11km to the start of the hike. Werner, Janine and I were last, and we reached the start just after 9am. We rejoined the group of 9: Rudi our leader, Gerbert, Johan, Janine, Bianca, Roland and Henry. Werner, Rudi, Gerbert and Roland knew each other from work, and the rest of us had gotten to know each other over a series of practice hikes, concluding with a challenging three day hike in Magoebaskloof on the middle of winter.
At the start we took our obligatory group photo and admired the view of the second largest canyon in the world, wow! We started the descent, along chain railings that people had latched locks onto. Many of us were nervous about the descent and it was crazy steep as we expected, but we managed it well, and after about 45 minutes it was less steep and more manageable.
We had one rest and then after just over an hour we were in the canyon proper. We reached a beautiful pool, and not knowing if we’d find more like this or not, Werner and I took the opportunity to swim. The water was bracing but so refreshing and gave our legs new life to tackle the next part of the hike. I didn’t regret the time we took, for a second.
From here the hike started properly and we reached some very challenging terrain - very large rocks, boulders and thick sand. The views were spectacular and the river was still pretty full of water in most places. We reached our lunch spot, about the only shade for miles, around 1pm when the heat was really at its peak. We rested on some rocks and had a bite to eat and a well earned rest.
After lunch we continued on but the going was slow, it felt like the kilometers were taking forever to tick over as the terrain and heat continued to challenge us. Bianca was struggling with her knee and low iron levels but we pushed on slowly, wanting to get enough km behind us on our first day.
We found another shady spot for a much needed rest and Werner entertained us playing with the redwing starlings that congregated around him, hoping for a share of the nuts he was eating. After this we found the pulpit rock, a smooth grey, almost seal shaped rock in the water. Further on, we found the Vespa named Vidi, and we posed for silly photos, giving some excitement to pep us up for the final kilometer.
We had decided to break at 4pm and the timing was perfect as we found a beautiful campsite on the sandy banks of a large pool with some rocks to put our bags on. According to the slingsby map route we were following, this was just before the 7km mark. We quickly put up our tent and the ran into the water, clothes and all, to cool off and wash. The next job was filtering water, which became a daily ritual.
At 5:30 the sun was already heading down behind the mountains, and we rested and watched the sunset, chatting and toasting to having completed our first day. Dinner was Alfredo pasta with ham and mushrooms. After dinner we sat together, discussed the plans for the next day and lay on the soft sand, staring up at the amazing stars. It was much warmer than the previous night in Hobas, most of us were still in T shirts. After 8pm we headed for bed, falling asleep almost immediately.
Day 2 - The challenge continues
- Time: 7:50 - 15:00
- Distance: 16km
- Camped: Sentinel rock
We all woke up around 6am, it was extremely dark, so we started with packing up, then made cappuccinos and oats-so-easy for breakfast. Everything took much longer than expected so we were only ready to go around 7:45. It was pleasantly cool and shady as we left, but the terrain was even tougher, we were traversing large rocks and boulders, sometimes having to climb further up to find a way through. This is not easy with 15-19kg on your back!
We passed an enormous rock which had no name so we christened it “big ass rock” as it somewhat resembled a bum. Then we reached a spot where other groups had dug their group numbers in the sand, so Werner added 236 and a heart.
Next we reached a huge really square grey rock we called "the cube", which Gerbert proceeded to climb. It briefly got a little easier, with more hard pack to walk on, and we reached the 10km sign and celebrated. The painted kilometer markers painted on rocks mark the length of the river, in 10km increments. These don’t always match directly to our covered kilometers, as we were following the slingsby route, which cuts off some corners of the river where possible…
We spotted lots of animal spoor: small cats, antelope and baboons, and eventually even horse. Then we reach a large rock pile with a pair of beautiful kudu horns on it. From here the terrain varied between sand, boulders and occasional stretches of easier path.
At 11:30am, after covering a total of 16km from the start the day before, we reached palm (sulphur) springs, instantly recognisable by its pungent smell! We found the source of the hot spring, it’s REALLY hot, this flows into a cooler pool. We dropped our bags and went for a swim, in the spot where the hot water mixed with the cold, which really refreshed our aching muscles, so nice! We had lunch and then departed at 12:30.
At this point we spotted two beautiful wild horses and got really close, they weren’t phased by us at all. If only they could carry our heavy packs for a while! Soon we reached the 20km sign hidden on the rocks and then started thinking about where to camp. At one point we were concerned we wouldn’t find a big pool and might have to go back. Henry scouted ahead while we followed slowly and he announced he’d found a good spot, but we’d lost Rudi, Bianca and Roland who had taken an easier path. Just as we were about to put up our tent, Henry told us to go a little further where we met the rest of the group in front of a big pool with a wide beach. The sandy site was a bit exposed but good enough. We filtered our water first, then swam/bathed. While washing in the middle of the pool, Werner suddenly exclaimed that he’d lost his wedding ring, it slipped right off into the deep water and mud. He searched and searched but couldn’t find it. Later Henry even tried but sadly it was lost to the canyon.
We made dinner of lasagne and bolognese freeze dried meals, but skipped the drinks due to headaches from the heat of the day. It was a windy night, making cooking and sleeping a little more challenging, but did give some relief from the heat.
Day 3 - Day of suffering
- Time: 7:30 - 16:00
- Distance: 24km
- Camped: 50km sign
On day three we woke up a bit earlier, 5:45, so that we wouldn’t be the last ones ready to go, it really took a surprisingly long time to get ready! Our muscles were really aching and a few more people were complaining of sore knees.
Around 7:30, everyone was ready. We’d set ourselves a challenging target for the day: 24km to reach the last campsite before the first shortcut… as we prepared to leave, the sun rise was beautiful, above the hills with rays and stripes.
We had been told day three was “like a road”, so we were a little surprised to find quite a lot of challenging terrain ahead of us. Some sections of boulders, some sandy pebbles and some just plain deep sand. But at least it was easier than the day before.
We reached zebra pools, where the black rocks were striped with white, then rested for a while under some thorn bushes. Then rounded a sharp bend and found ourselves crossing large boulders, in front of a mountain called sphinx rock, which was considerably lighter at the top, though I couldn’t easily see a sphinx in it…
We spotted lots of spoor, including baboons and cats, and also marveled at some of the beautiful flowers en route. After a while we saw the baboons themselves, quite a big troop.
The worst thing about the entire Fish River hike is the midges/miggies, someone on the Facebook group described them as “dawn to dusk” bugs as they appeared as soon as the sun came up… We stopped for lunch at penknife bush, in the only shady spot we could find, and they were swarming around our faces. Eventually Werner and I walked right into the river and sat there on large stones, to escape them.
A little after lunch the real challenge came, which we hadn’t expected. The trail took us on a “shortcut” through “grootbome”, cutting across a ridge along the river, opposite bushy corner. I’m still pretty sure this was the official route but others weren’t convinced… this trail was extremely challenging, it started heading upward but was blocked in quite a few places by fallen thorn trees and other trees. We had to climb under and over them with our heavy packs, and then push through dense vegetation. Toward the end, we were on a fairly sheer cliff, it felt scary/dangerous. But believe it or not, there was a proper trail on the other side!
Curiously we found a handwritten note dated 31/07/2025 warning us that the water there made 2/5 of them sick, and that just filtering was not enough. We made sure to use “pilletjies” (water purification tabs) as well.
We set up our tent, went for a swim/bath - it was less warm than the previous days and I struggled to immerse myself in the cold water. We walked a bit further to a bigger pool to gather and filter our water, a process which took forever and I was quickly tiring of. But we weren’t going to take any chances!
Back at the campsite everyone was relaxing on some nice rocks, we’d been looking forward to some drinkies, which we’d skipped the previous day due to headaches. We cooked up our forever fresh meals, butter chicken and lentil daal, and relaxed and chatted to our friends. The sun started setting in the far mountains, and was reflected in the pool in front of us, incredible!
Janine had a suggestion for the next day, to walk 14km to “bikini beach”, the last real campsite, leaving only 8-9km for the last day, we all liked that idea. We ended up going to bed before 8, exhausted from a tough day.
Day 4 - Easier and enjoyable
- Time: 7:50 - 14:00
- Distance: 14km
- Camped: Bikini beach
We woke up at 6am, knowing we had an easier, less rushed day ahead. Somehow, our muscles weren’t sore, it seemed we were finally getting “hiking fit” which was a relief. We went through the usual rituals and were finally ready to leave around 7:50. We started up the route, it was uphill, surrounded by dark rock, but the path wasn’t too tough. Soon we found ourselves in an almost lunar landscape, dry earth and mountains all around, the river nowhere to be seen, and the sun rising behind us.
We walked towards four finger rock and then eventually came out at Tholo van Trotha (a German soldier’s) grave. Strangely this seemed like a great place to have a break/picnic and we relaxed a while on the rocks, having covered our first four km. We were covering good distance this day.
Next we walked along the river for a while, crossing some boulders and some sand. Eventually we reached Kocha's drift, and a real concrete road over the river, walking towards the pink palace, a small white building with pink edges, wondering if we’d find someone there to sell us cokes/beers/food. Unfortunately not, but we were happy to find a real bench and some sitting places with backrests, so we rested for some time.
Then we continued along the road for a short while, and then on an easy wide path, spotting leopard tracks. The next shortcut, “bandage pass” was the steepest uphill so far, and we rested briefly at the top. At the bottom we found ourselves in front of a wide expanse of river, difficult to cross. We had to follow the river a little upstream before we found enough rocks to cross, and then back tracked over some challenging rocks to the path.
At this point we needed a rest, and even though we only had 3km to go, we decided to stop for “lunch”. Except none of us were hungry… so Rudi offered to boil up some water and we had tea and coffee. The clouds were really building at this point, and there was a cool breeze, so we didn’t even mind that there wasn’t much shade.
At 1pm we left, over skaapskraal, a wide flat-ish area of dry landscape with a few shrubs and the occasional flowers, the river nowhere in sight. Eventually we reached our campsite for the night, “bikini beach” just after 2pm. It was still slightly chilly so none of us braved bikinis 
instead most of us took a nap, sheltering in our tents to escape the incessant bugs.
Towards sunset we emerged, starting to make dinner, sharing sherries and chatting in a circle, mostly telling stories about our dogs. Some of us took the opportunity to use the satellite phone we’d shared, to try it out and call home, letting people know we were alive. I called my Dad, who was very surprised to hear from me! Then we sat and chatted until it was dark, and got everyone to leave a torch in their tents so that we could take a cool photo of the colourful lit up tents in the dark. Before 8pm we were already heading for bed, tired from four days of walking.
Day 5 - Finish Strong!
- Time: 7:50 - 10:35??
- Distance: 9km
- Slept in real beds in Ai-Ais resort 😊
A little after midnight I heard some thunder… and wondered if that meant rain. Less than an hour later, we heard the pitter patter of rain on our tent. I was so half asleep it didn’t even occur to me that most of our stuff wasn’t in the tent! Luckily Werner was more alert, and he sprinted outside to rescue bags, and clothes that were drying. The tent held up well, and we managed to stay dry and sleep until our 6am wake up!
The sand was still wet when we emerged from our tents the next morning, leading us to believe it may have rained steadily through the night. We exchanged stories with our friends - some tents had handled the rain better than others… The evil bugs were waiting for us, and didn’t even give us a chance to get ready before swarming us.
By 7:50 we were ready for our last day of walking - 9km to Ai-Ais. We took a quick shoe photo of everyone in a circle and then set off. The path was largely easy and we were further aided by the fact that the rain had turned the soft sand into hard pack. We had a few moments where we had to figure out the best way to cross the dry riverbed, over thousands of pebbles, to make sure we were still on the right track. We found the 80km sign and posed for a timed group photo.
Eventually we started seeing signs of civilisation, then saw the “Cold beer!” sign and then the dam wall. We couldn’t believe it was over, as we walked into Ai-Ais hot springs resort before 11am.
One staff member spotted us and ran to ring the bell, others were clapping, and then Karla, Gerbert’s sister and our driver, popped out from her accommodation to welcome us. We signed out of the register, found comfy couches and ordered cold beers to celebrate. What a feeling!! To end off, we had burgers with the group, and nominated awards for each of the members. It had been a tough but incredible experience, one never to be forgotten!!
