Fish River Canyon 2023

Canyon Vespa Adventure (Dag 2)

On the second day
in the Mighty Canyon,
We pack up
While everyone discusses the monster
The one that disturbed
everyone’s sleep the night before.
Oh, and then his words:
“I didn’t sleep?!”
He proclaims to the recording,
“Sorry for you,
there are still,
three nights to come…
Good Luck!! Hahaha!!!”

My leg burned throughout the night
caused by the adrenaline shot.
With the monster and a burning leg,
sleep was abandoned.
I was very tired
I prayed so hard,
“Lord, please
don’t let him snore tonight.
We need our sleep!”

Starting off tired,
only coffee was served,
no breakfast.
The sun rises,
the desert birds sing
as we carry on
step by step.
The start is good,
even though
I didn’t sleep much
and didn’t eat.
I feel empowered
by my surroundings.

The leader said to me,
“The old guy (73) didn’t rest,
he just carried on slowly,
but he was moving forward!”
That was just what I
needed to hear at that moment.
I needed to keep my momentum
and keep pushing forward.
There is no way out except
by taking a step forward.

We arrived at the Vespa,
a new excitement arose inside me.
I thought of all the thousands
of people who crossed this path before me,
each with their own expectations,
memories, and goals.
We took memorial pictures
and then started again.

The sun was hot,
The boulders were difficult.
My toes burned with blisters.
The sand slowed me down,
it was so hot
it burned through my shoes.
But just when it felt like too much,
the boulders appeared again.
Slowly, I moved from one rock to another,
tapping into all my energy.

Sip, sip, sip.
The water was tasteful,
our energy booster was working.
I breathed with concentration,
everything working together
for a smooth sailing through
the Mighty hot Canyon.

We arrived at the hot spring,
where the water was boiling hot.
Just a few feet away,
there was ice-cold water
where we dropped down,
cooling our burning feet.
We rested for a while,
packed up, and started again.
Just a kilometre ahead,
we set up our camp.
The tents popped up,
water was filtered,
food was prepared,
and night fell.
It was a good day!
Sweet dreams
until tomorrow.