Fish River Canyon

At 650 kilometers, the Fish River is undoubtedly the longest river in Namibia. Having its source in the Naukluft Mountains, the Fish River flows south west into the Orange River, which winds its way through Namibia’s neighbor South Africa. The Fish River Canyon, found along the lower reaches of the Fish River, in the Karas Region of Namibia, is, without a doubt, one of the most spectacular natural beauties, one will ever have the pleasure of seeing. Over 500 millions years in the making, the two most prominent factors contributing to the canyons size, and grandeur, are water/soil erosion and the collapse of the valley bottom due to the movements of the earth’s crust.

Second largest canyon

With much debate, it is thought that the Fish River Canyon is second in size, only to the Grand Canyon in America. It stretches a distance of approximately 160 kilometers, starting near Seeheim, passing through the Koubis massif all the way down to the out skirts of the town Ai-Ais. As far as one can actually measure a canyon, the Fish River Canyon has been measured at 550 meters at its deepest point and approximately 27 kilometers at its widest.