When you look at a photograph of the Fish River Canyon, taken from the top at the viewpoint, it looks like a maze of brown dongas – that is all.  But don’t be deceived - take a walk down into the canyon, spend some time on the banks of the Fish River,  and a night or two looking up at the stars,  and you will realise that it is a place of beauty, a very special place.  A walk along the pristine sandy beaches will reveal a myriad of tiny footprints belonging to birds and lizards, delicate patterns left by  beetles and scorpions, larger prints belonging to buck and baboons, and cats large and small.  You will be followed by beady-eyed starlings on the lookout for crumbs,  while small blue and pink  lizards dart in and out of the rocks.  Bright orange or  blue dragonflies hover over your head, and small yellow flowers bloom on sandy beaches and in the most unlikely rocky crevises.  The river is cool and inviting,  the beaches are clean and pure  and the smooth boulders are different shades of  white, pink, grey and green, while the surrounding hills are hard and veined and abrasive  by  contrast.

The Fish River Hike is not for the faint-hearted,  but if you work up a level of hiking fitness, it is well worth a visit.

Table Mountain		Sunset on a sandy beach
The path back to Ai-Ais		Boulders and more boulders
Squatters ?		Table mountain in the distance
First difficult river crossing