A long way from anywhere and either on route to Luderitz or Cape Town, the Fish River Canyon and Kalahari Area is a vast area dominated by sheep and cattle farms and an increasing amount of conservations game ranches.
- Enjoy wildlife safaris in the Kalahari Thornveld
- Holiday and experience -vast open spaces, blue skies and complete tranquillity
- Pack your bag and take a five day hike down the Fish River Canyon
- Hikes, game viewing and scenic drives in the Canyon
Reserve
- Visit Brukkaros volcano and Giant's Playground
- Quiver Tree Forests : An area with an exceptionally high concentration of these tree aloes
The Fish River Canyon and Kalahari are two destinations definitely not for the faint hearted, the reason for this, is that it really is a long drive from anywhere and getting there requires a lot of driving or flying. The area encompassing Mariental, Keetmanskoop, Ai Ais, Karasburg and Grunau is predominantly sheep and ostrich farming and private game ranches and farms. The Fish River Canyon is one of the largest Canyons in the world and is home to a fantastic hiking trail, alternative try your hand at an adventure canoeing safari on the Orange River.
Two little-known facts about the Kalahari Desert: first, stretching from Angola in the north, through Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa, and covering an area of about 900,000sq km, it is the world's largest sand basin; and second, it is not a desert. Far from it.
With a variety of habitats including moist broad-leafed woodland, dry savannah thornveld, and semi-arid duneveld, the Kalahari supports an astonishing diversity of flora and fauna in one of the most sparsely populated places in the inhabited world. Private game farms the size of small countries have high concentrations of wildlife and birdlife
Through vast plains as far as the eye can see and over millions of years, the Fish River has carved a mighty canyon that opens up with such abruptness it has to be seen to be believed. With a sluggish start about 300 million years ago the river began digging its way downwards; continental upheaval 130 million years later led to sudden surge in geological terms in the river's velocity and the creation of one of the world's largest canyons began in earnest.
The five-day hike along the canyon is no mean feat and the scenic reward easily justifies the physical exertion. The canyon is in a National Park with the emphasis on scenery over wildlife though it does exist and often surprise. Around the park are private reserves of equal serenity and beauty.
