Canyon Village

The stay

A Nama village at the foot of the rocks

Canyon Village is laid out like a Nama settlement: a horseshoe of cottages curving around a grove of young quiver trees, with a great sweep of rock rising behind. The cottages are stone and thatch with Cape-Dutch gables and a veranda each, and from the right angle the whole place looks like a set from a western.

The big thatched central building, draped in bougainvillaea, holds reception, the lounge, the bar and a buffet restaurant. It doubles as a small museum of the south. Dozens of murals tell the story of the missions, the ox-wagons and the horse carts of the old days, a centuries-old ox-wagon stands in the dining room, and an old horse cart sits among the boulders in the bar. Staff wear traditional Nama dress.

It is the largest of the three Gondwana lodges here and the best placed for the canyon itself: Hobas, the park gate and main viewpoint, is 16 km away, so self-drivers can be at the rim for first light in under twenty minutes.

What to do

Why stay at Canyon Village?

Distance to the rim decides how good your canyon photographs are. The light is best in the first hour after sunrise, and at 16 km from Hobas this is the closest of the Gondwana lodges to the main viewpoints. If you are driving yourself, you can be there before the tour vehicles.

Gondwana’s guided drives and walks leave from Canyon Lodge, a short drive away, so you get yourself there for them. The morning or afternoon canyon drive includes park fees, refreshments and a snack. The free trail between the two lodges, over a plateau and past Archway Rock, starts here.

Canyon Village is the most budget-friendly of the three Gondwana lodges in the Canyon Park. Canyon Lodge has stone chalets among the boulders, Canyon Roadhouse its vintage cars and fuel station, and Ai-Ais the hot springs at the southern end of the canyon.

Before you book

• Rates are bed and breakfast
• All rooms have showers only
• Guided activities depart from Canyon Lodge; you arrange your own transport there
• Three rooms are adapted for guests with limited mobility — ask for one when you book
• Under 5s stay free; 6 to 13 year olds pay half the bed-and-breakfast rate
• Check-in from 14:00, check-out by 10:00
• Visa and Mastercard accepted

Things to do

• Morning or afternoon canyon drive — about three hours to the two main lookout points, with park fees, refreshments and a light snack included
• Sunset nature drive — about three hours in the Gondwana Canyon Park. Does not go to the canyon
• Sunrise hike — coffee and rusks at a viewpoint, then about an hour’s walk back
• Morning walk — semi-guided, about three hours into the Canyon Park
• Escorted sunset walk — free, about an hour up the ‘local’ mountain, drinks charged to your room
• Hiking trail to Canyon Lodge — free, two to three hours over a plateau and past Archway Rock
• 4x4 //Garas self-drive — 47 km of marked tracks through the Canyon Park with a trail map. Be out before sunset

Things to see

• The Fish River Canyon from the Hobas viewpoints, 16 km away
• Zebra, wildebeest and other plains animals in the Gondwana Canyon Park
• The murals, ox-wagon and horse cart in the main building
• Quiver trees at sunrise inside the horseshoe
• Canyon Roadhouse up the road, and the Ai-Ais hot springs at the canyon’s southern end

Facilities

• Buffet restaurant, bar and lounge
• Cold-water swimming pool
• Wi-Fi and mobile signal
• Rooms for guests with limited mobility
• Secure parking and laundry service
• 24-hour security

Getting there

• Just off the C37, about 20 km east of the Fish River Canyon, in the Karas Region
• 16 km from Hobas, the canyon’s main gate and viewpoint
• Fuel at Canyon Roadhouse, up the road
• Transfers from the Karios airstrip for fly-in guests
• GPS: -27.65222, 17.7733 — open in Google Maps