The strong desire to return to the Fish River Canyon (FRC) is almost similar to the yearning a lover has when waiting to reunite with a loved one. It just won’t go away.

I wonder whether to contact the Namibian Wildlife Offices to check availability of a next hike for 2023. I also wonder whether this longing will pass. Many FRC hikers return to the Canyon - just like our team mate Chris has done.

‘The Canyon either takes something from you or you take something from the Canyon’, is an oft cited expression of FRC hikers. I still don’t know the answer to this. Except that I yearn to return to the beautiful, golden-brown Canyon that stretches protectively alongside the curvy blue-green Fish River. I stopped counting her rocky curves at number twelve on the morning of Day 3.

Her string of river pools is best sighted from the viewing point. The sight of water after a bend was always welcoming as it signaled a rest period. Initially not for my very fussy brother, Godfrey, who had sworn to carry enough fresh water to last through the five-day hike. By the morning of day 2, his three-litre water bladder was depleted.

His joy on the second day - as if he had struck gold - when he found a small stream of water running from the mountain reeds, was sacred. “This is good water,” he proclaimed while on bended knees and hands he lapped it up with our bottles. The Canyon river had more than enough water on offer - but his fussiness for hygiene stood in the way. Unless the water was boiled became his later compromise. So we drank copious amounts of delicious naturally-sweet-tasting rooibos tea for him to stay hydrated.

To be continued…