Fish River Canyon

Fish River Canyon
National monument in Namibia
Monument type	Landscapes: canyons and caves
location	ǀAi-ǀAis Richtersveld Transfrontier Park
Geographic coordinates :	27 ° 42 '16.9 " S , 17 ° 35' 12.3" O Coordinates: 27 ° 42 '16.9 " S , 17 ° 35' 12.3" E
Emergence	500 million years
Recognized ; by the National Heritage Council	August 1, 1962
Deprivation
Sponsorship	Ministry of Environment and Tourism
Website	NHC Namibia

The Fish River Canyon ( English Fish River Canyon , Afrikaans Visrivier Afgronde ) is located in southern Namibia . It is about 160 kilometers long, up to 27 kilometers wide and up to 550 feet of water from the Fish River eroded riverbed of the largest canyon in Africa and applies to the Grand Canyon as the second largest canyon in the world. According to the Namibian MeteoNA , record temperatures of more than 50 ° C were measured here.

The Fish River is the longest river in Namibia with a length of over 650 kilometers. It has its source in the eastern Naukluft Mountains , but only carries water below its damming at the Hardap Dam in times of very heavy rain . The Fish River Canyon essentially flows through the Hunsberge and begins at Seeheim in the north and ends in the south at Ai-Ais , while the river only flows into the Oranje a few kilometers later , the border river to South Africa . Due to the reduced water flow below the Hardap Dam, not only is future leaching of the river bed minimized, but the vegetation along the river will also change over time. Nevertheless, individual ponds can be found in the river bed even in times of little rain, which are probably fed by groundwater all year round. The water holes are used by some antelope species as well as by leopards .

Touristic

Most of the canyon is located in the cross-border ǀAi-ǀAis Richtersveld Transfrontier Park and in the private Gondwana Cañon Park .

The two main camps in the park are Hobas near the main viewpoint with the information center at the north end and ǀAi-ǀAis in the river basin with its hot springs in the south. For tourists, guided hikes through the canyon lasting several days are offered from May to August; However, a descent off the gravel access road without a guide is life-threatening and therefore prohibited.

Web links

Commons : Fish River Canyon - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

↑ Note: This article contains characters from the alphabet of the Khoisan languages spoken in southern Africa . The display contains characters of the click letters ǀ , ǁ , ǂ and ǃ . For more information on the pronunciation of long or nasal vowels or certain clicks , see e.g. B. under Khoekhoegowab .

[Khivorlage-1] Note: This article contains characters from the alphabet of the Khoisan languages spoken in southern Africa . The display contains characters of the click letters ǀ , ǁ , ǂ and ǃ . For more information on the pronunciation of long or nasal vowels or certain clicks , see e.g. B. under Khoekhoegowab .