Fish River Canyon Day 4 – (Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park – Namibia)

This Day 4 recording of the Fish River Canyon trail is part of a series of recordings that can be found in this Wikiloc profile. Day 4 began early after overnighting below the Kooigoed Heights at the 50km sign and ended at a large pool marked as “Kraal” on the Slingsby Map near kilometer 77 on the river. Day 4 involved capitalizing on all the shortcuts available to make up the kilometers needed to eventually reach Ai-Ais at the end of Day 5. The shortcuts are well signed and have become the default route for most who hike the Fish River Canyon. Some in our party did proclaim that they would like to return and hike the full river armed with better fitness and conditioning which would allow them to see places like Lost Bend which supposedly has one of the most pristine river beaches of the whole canyon. Day 4 also included the long-awaited Pink Palace, but after some disappointment with Bushy Corner not turning out to be the oasis imagined, nobody wanted to get their hopes up. The fourth day of hiking started early once again but after 2 hard days on the river the math seemed to show that we weren’t in it for too much more than we had already covered. The mood had already seemed to lighten on night 3 as we consulted the map and realized that the toughest stretch of the canyon was well over. The weather forecast also showed that the two 38C days were behind us, this Thursday the 31st of August 2023 was forecasted to be a cool 33 degrees Celsius which is far more manageable. After leaving the night 3 campsite with water bladders and bottles filled with quality water from the spring the group found its way into the shady kloof signed with painted white arrows and flanked by the 50km sign. After a short brief uphill through the kloof the path levelled and showed a long open vista of hard gravel all the way to Four Finger Rock in the far distance. From here the morale of the group really seemed to improve and the mood was lightened. It was a “we have got this” kind of feeling. The trudging of Day 2 and 3 made way for fun, photographs and stopping for group pictures all the way along the stretch towards Four Finger Rock. Approaching the rock and ascending the banks of the river once again on the second shortcut the calls for breakfast were getting louder. It was at this point one of the water marshals passed us carrying a couple of 5-liter containers to Bushy Corner. It seems they were running a ferry system from Pink Palace, the marshal, to our delight confirmed that the Pink Palace was in fact open and accepting cash. Music to our ears! We thanked him for his service and the information and proceeded up the embankment. After climbing a short way up the next short cut we came across the water tank at the top of the Vasvatneck. As it was 8:30 this was a perfect stop for breakfast, to drink, and to refresh as needed. Nobody filled up too much at this point as we all knew that Pink Palace was a matter of 4 kilometers away and the thought of something other than water was far more enticing. The trail kept on in the same fashion of hard gravel, small river boulders and sand for a while, looking back reveals the more recognizable side of Four Finger Rock and the naming becomes clearer from this angle. After Lieutenant Thilo Von Trotha’s grave it was a long section of river sand with some large Leopard spoor all around. Eventually Pink Palace came into view. It was a highlight of the trip for many in the group to open ice-cold cooler boxes of Beer and Coke, nothing quite describes the gratitude for simple things one develops on this trail. Something cold and sweet made the Palace a five-star hotel in our eyes. The Pink Palace may be closed in some years if the water levels on the river are high enough that hikers aren’t under pressure to find water. Ask at Ai Ais or Hobas if the Pink Palace is operational in the season you hike and take cash! The group opted for a long break at the palace and some Cokes and Beers to takeaway for night 4 was a non-negotiable, the packs had lightened enough by this stage to account for the extra weight. In addition to Cokes and Beers a great plus of this stop was the ability to discard some refuse and fill our water bladders with clean potable water for night 4 as we were told that the water quality was terrible all the way back to Ai-Ais. By Day 4 many of us were already in the groove of hiking, not getting as stiff, recovering faster but it was at this point that the blisters really began. After doctoring our blisters at Pink Palace, the group set off in the direction of the ironically named “Bandage Pass” and thankfully many of our blisters were indeed bandaged. The Bandage Pass is another useful shortcut over hard gravel, but it can get hot and in the midday heat of 33C it reflected off the rocks and gave us all a bit of PTSD from the heat on days 2 & 3. Pushing through and just past Fools Gold Corner we opted for a break in the shade. Another stretch more and the group reached what we initially thought was Bikini Beach and Stinkwater Pool. It was however a spot on the Slingsby Map marked as “Kraal” just before the official Bikini Beach. The vantage point and view was great and nobody wanted to move after setting up camp. The elevation over the river and the large pool below provided picturesque scenery. That evening the temperatures dropped and the wind picked up slightly. It was the first time since leaving Ai-Ais that any of us needed to wear something warmer than just a T-Shirt and Shorts during the evenings, all the other nights had been balmy if not downright warm. The Super Blue Moon of 31 Aug 2023 rose above the ridge to the East and lit up the entire canyon in front of us. Truly a remarkable event to witness. Thankfully our tent allowed us to sleep unaffected by the bright spotlight in the sky above us. Consider packing an in-flight eye mask if you are doing the canyon hike when the moon is nearly full, it might permit you some better-quality sleep if you are sensitive to light. During the night the wind picked up and scattered fine red sand all over our tents. A piece of advice not to camp on fine red sand suddenly made sense after we could not get the sand out of our gear. Overall Day 4 was a good and fairly simple day of hiking. The Canyon had definitely opened up and the scenery was far less dramatic than the first days, but the terrain was easier going and the drop in temperature coupled with the feeling that the group was almost there had raised morale and everyone was well acquainted and friends at this point. Its almost as if nobody wanted this to be the last night in the canyon. It was as if we all could’ve stayed and taken it easy for a while longer as we did on Day 4. The bittersweet “end of summer camp” feeling was widespread among the group, but everyone was dead set on having a good time and making the most of their last night in the canyon. Its ironic how one has moments of struggle and in that moment, you’d just want the trail to be over, but then when the trail is almost over you wish it wouldn’t end! Enjoy the last evening in the canyon with your hiking comrades.