"*Oooo gonnas, hier is ons*!" said my hiking companion as she squeezed out of her cocoon of a sleeping bag on the first day of the five-day Fish River Canyon trail, rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around. The last stars melted away into the pink clouds of the canary-blue morning sky and a golden tinge fingered the crests of the great canyon walls that towered majestically above us.