Not Grand, but Still Pretty Good

After checking out of the Bates Motel we hopped back on the dirt road for an easy (ha!) 109 kilometers to Fish Canyon. It was another early morning for me and I finished the ride by one o’clock, even with a long Coke stop. Our Coke stop that day, the only manmade presence the whole day, was a funky German roadhouse full of antique cars and old road signs. They served real ice cream, cold sodas and apple crumble. The TDA was in heaven. We all had a nice break, did some souvenir and wine shopping and then we were off.

Camp that night was a caravan park ten kilometers from the Fish River Canyon, the second biggest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon. A few of us bought some chips and Cokes from the camp shop and headed out to see the canyon. What the sign directing us to the viewing point neglected to mention was that the ten kilometers was almost entirely up hill. After a day on rough dirt roads, another ten km uphill on sandy corrugation was not a welcome addition. The ride was worth it though as the canyon was pretty spectacular. I’m ashamed to admit that despite living on the west coast most of my life, I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon. Somehow I missed the family vacation–I don’t remember where I was–and on my cross country drive my mother and I decided to hit the outlet malls outside Vegas rather than stop by the Grand Canyon (don’t judge!). So this was my first very big hole in the ground and I was not disappointed. As usual in Africa, there are no guard rails or park guards to keep us away from the edge, so you could walk right up and look down into the chasm. For the record, I did not get too close to the edge, although I went closer than some dared. After a few snapshots and some relaxing time out on the ledge with our drinks and snacks, we all enjoyed the downhill ride back to camp and the beginning of our last week on the Tour.

My friends and I at the canyon.

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