Fish River Canyon

To kick off Canyon Week here, I am posting about a canyon I visited a few years ago. The Fish River Canyon in southern Namibia is a very dramatic canyon. Below is a view looking down into the canyon from the main rim viewpoint. From this vantage point it appears similar to the Grand Canyon in the US as they both have dry desert conditions and surroundings.

Fish River Canyon was created by - surprise - the Fish River as it winds from the Namibian plateau until it empties into the Orange River, which provides the southern border between Namibia and South Africa.

In the picture above you can see some of the dramatic cut from the plateau on the upper left to the river below. Parts of the canyon are up to about 1600 feet deep and the canyon is about 100 miles long. Both of the pictures here today are ones I took on my visit.