Time for another Fish River Canyon post, and the fifth day was our final day. Now that I have written about our day to day adventures, I will post a complete guide to the Fish River Canyon over the next few days…
After many days of hiking, sand followed by stones and repeat… and a less than optimum night of sleep we were up in the dark and off. Turns out the march out of the canyon was grey and overcast and I think we were all happier for the cooler temperature. And yet, it was a really upside down feeling. Racing to the finish but not wanting it to be over at all. Nearly all conversation revolved around what we were looking forward to once we had finished.
We crossed the causeway in the dark and had a quick stop at the “Pink Palace”… which is really just an abandoned building… and decided to wait until later for breakfast…
On we went to Fool’s Gold Corner for our breakfast stop and at this stage, with literally no food left in my pack – I was very glad that I had sorted my food into separate packs for each day… because I still had a snack pack to go and a breakfast coffee.
Happy days… until I looked at Fool’s Gold Corner and realised that is would be quite impossible for me to navigate around that… Note to self, next time take a dry bag – toss my pack into it and when the going gets tough, swim. Needless to say, swimming wasn’t an option, and hence, despite all that I had done, I was telling me self that I couldn’t possibly do this short section.
There were rocks to clamber… there were tricky little routes to discover, decisions of where and how to put your feet… but up and over and round and about… and with a little encouragement it was totally possible. This was definitely the day that I finally took fear out of it’s box and smashed it… Honestly, bravery award right there, and at fool’s Gold Corner I finally turned the “I can’t” song in my head to… I can totally do this. But, there was still a lot of sand…
And river rocks…
And each of them unique…
And fatigue… I was tired… I was getting slower and slower and I could feel the team just wanted everything to be over… they were tired… feet were sore and folks were done… but my speed button had gone on strike, I was singing a song on repeat to get me to the finish, and was I ever greatful for hiking poles.
And we still I had a long long way to go…
I had read in several articles, that once you pop out of the canyon there is about a 10km walk along a road… so I was waiting and waiting for something that looked like a road…
The surroundings changed a lot… things became much greener…
Signs like “Amper daar”…
At this stage I was so tired I literally could have dropped… but on and on waiting for this alleged road and a 10km march…
Another vast stretch of sand…
And we were done… we had arrived at Ai-Ais… and I will never know where that last road is… but it never materialised… and the life lesson: Don’t believe everything folks tell you. Meanwhile, bells were rung… the entire campsite got up and clapped us in… packs were hung on the hooks…
First things first… shoes off and I allowed myself to realise how sore and tired my feet really were…
Celebrations all round…
Team photos… and I could not stop smiling…
That was tough and I did it… a very happy moment!!!
And just as we arrived… great big spots of rain, followed by pouring rain came tumbling down. And instead of an afternoon exploring Ai- Ais and relaxing in the hot springs, we sat huddled around coffee mugs, while the rain poured down. A moment of relief that we finished just in time.
The White House
But, the Forever Fresh team had another surprise for us… they had booked us into the sweetest Bed and Breakfast, called The White House. The was a hot and hearty farm dinner waiting for the tired team…
Not to mention a hot shower and a warm bed…
Just exactly what I needed… a restorative sleep…
An honesty bar fridge packed with cool drinks… and breakfast packed and ready to go…
So an early start and over the border… And one lucky camper, who still had a Forever Fresh feast in his bag…
And a long road home…
That was Day 5 and the Final Day of our Fish River Canyon Adventure. Follow along for the final post, where I put it all together…
