More Adventures in Africa: Kayaking on the Orange River and Fish River Canyon

We arrived at Amanzi trails and discovered how easy it is to camp and kayak when someone does all of the work for you, although we did assemble the tent. We had purchased a one and a half day kayaking package but didn't know that it also covered all of our meals, including the night we arrived,
and a guide, Mbasi, to accompany us on the river and make all of our meals.
The next morning we were on the river at 9 am. There were beautiful birds everywhere-fish eagles, cormorants, herons, egrets-all diving for fish-but my camera was packed away in a waterproof bucket as there were quite a few rapids.We stopped for lunch at noon for several hours. Mel and Mbasi took naps and I took many dips in the water as it was extremely hot. Around 6 pm, after about 30 kms, we stopped to set up the tent for the night and have dinner. Mbasi made a delicious dinner of grilled chicken, squash, potatoes and salad and we enjoyed a bottle of wine and a sunset.
The next morning we did more paddling and swimming before returning to the Amanzi site and our car. That afternoon we drove to the Fish River Canyon area where we stayed at the very kitchy Canon Lodge (another Route 66 type place). then it was another 4:30 am wakeup to see the Fish River Canyon at dawn. The canyon was stunning-160 kms long, 27 kms wide with a depth of 550 meters. There is a five day hike through it that sounds like hell as the temperatures are so high, the terrain so difficult and many poisonous snakes and spiders. Too bad the hikes are not allowed during this tile of the year!
We drove to Keetmanshoop for a quick overnight before the drive the next day to Windhoek and our flight to Cape Town. We enjoyed our several weeks in Namibia-a fascinating and diverse country with friendly people.