History
Those interested in geology will find ample opportunity for exploration, not only at the Fish River Canyon but also among the numerous rock formations of Gondwana Canyon Park. Ancient dolerite hilltops testify to the disintegration of the primeval continent of Rodinia 750 million years ago, while massive layers of sandstone and limestone reveal that 600 million years ago this area was covered by a shallow sea.
But the more recent history, characterised by man, is highly fascinating as well. Rock engravings in the canyon depict mysteriously looking figures. Most probably they were done by ancestors of the San (Bushmen). Much later the area of Gondwana Canyon Park became part of the domain of the Bondelswart Nama who came to settle north of the Gariep/Orange River and established their headquarters in Warmbad. After they had lost the war (1904 – 1908) against the German colonial forces the land was divided into farms and given to German settlers. This was the time when two brothers from Bavaria built the house which today serves as the reception and restaurant of Canyon Lodge. Both men - together with thousands of their German compatriots - were deported by the country’s new South African rulers after the First World War, in 1919. During the next decades the land at the canyon was used for farming with cattle, sheep and goats.
When Namibia gained independence in 1990, tourism started to increase. From 1995 onwards, farms east of southern Namibia’s main attraction, the Fish River Canyon, were gradually purchased by a group of businessmen with a love for the country’s south. Livestock farming was discontinued, internal fences were dismantled, watering places suitable for game were set up and game which had once been indigenous to the area was reintroduced. Nature conservation efforts are financed with the income derived from the hospitality business, for which less than 5 percent of the park’s area is used. Furthermore, Gondwana Canyon Park is the source of a regular income for its employees, and holds out future prospects to them.
Furthermore, the Gondwana Canyon Park forms part of Greater Fish River Canyon Landscape initiative, which strives to establish a unique natural landscape by removing all fences. This area extends from the Sperrgebiet in the west to the Klein Karas Mountains in the east, and from the tar road between Keetmanshoop and Aus as its northern borderline down to the Orange River in the south – and even further, far beyond the South African border, because there the huge park meets the Richtersveld. This initiative enables game to regain a large part of the mobility which allowed them to respond to annual and local fluctuations in the arid Nama and Succulent Karoo’s grazing conditions before the arrival of settlers in the area more than a decade ago.
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