800km from Cape Town there is a campsite with hot springs, wild horses, and a river running through it. There is also a canyon carving through arid rock, and that is what we went in search of.

The Fish River Canyon, Namibia, is over 300km long, but hikes are mostly done between the campsites Hobas and Ai-Ais for 70 – 95km, depending on how many shortcuts you take.

We climbed down stumbling shale and rock
We saw scorpion trails everywhere
We slept under a blanket of stars
We cooked on open fires made from gathered driftwood
We drank the river
We got cold in the predawn and dived deeper into our sleeping bags
We got powder soft sand in our shoes
We saw kudu
We heard kudu whistling and drinking water next to us at midnight
We saw a German grave and wild horses
We followed Ryan Sandes
We made friends
We were small and wrapped in the mountains
We held the world away
We dozed in the midday heat
We scalded and soothed our bodies in hot springwater bubbling into rock pools
We saw saturated blue sky and unflinching resilience in plants and animals
We loved the simple life
We finished.