Built with a roadhouse feel, this lodge 27km from the canyon viewpoints, has become a landmark in the area and a must-do on the way to or from the canyon. Their Roadhouse burgers and Amarula cheesecake are well known, but even more compelling than the food is the bright, fun and playful interior and exterior of the lodge. Many a traveller has sat at the resplendent bar - or ‘Pompstasie’ - colourfully decorated with stickers and licence plates from around the world, and has gazed at the automobiles from yesteryear that form part of the restaurant décor or have been upcycled into innovative fireplaces. Outdoors, quiver trees grow from rusty bonnets, a windmill stands companionably next to a small pond and an old Dodge bakkie has been parked at an angle, dreaming of earlier days. The extra touch however is the humour that has been braided into the lodge decoration that makes you smile – giggle or laugh. It’s found in many spots, like the sign outside saying ‘Danger: bad road. Fasten safety belts, remove dentures and hearing aids’ and the ‘Pandora’s box’, strategically positioned on a painting of a curvaceous woman in the gent’s bathroom. A bell sounds through the restaurant when the lid of the box is lifted alerting everyone, but the note inside is in good spirit and lets you know that you owe your friends a round of drinks. Wherever it is, the entire lodge - lovely rooms included - is full of character without comprising on quality, providing a happy burst of appreciation for all the good things in life.
And, being in close proximity to the Fish River Canyon, you gain an appreciation for other things like the millions-of-years-old earth masterpiece, which has been carved by water and wind and the motion of the earth over millennia. It is ongoing at the pace of eternity, something that is difficult to grasp in our relatively short human lives. I understand it better when I hear the story of the 60s folk song about a small bird that comes once every thousand years to sharpen its beak on a mountain. When the mountain has thus been worn away one day of eternity shall have passed. Standing on the rim of the canyon is an experience that is mind-blowing. The enormity of the scenery and experience takes your breath away.
Braving the forty-degree heat, I drive from the Roadhouse through the Gondwana Canyon Park. A gemsbok walks across the road, four giraffe eye me warily. The roadsides are adorned with yellow dubbeltjie flowers from the recent rain and green grass heads bob and shine as if in greeting. I pay my entrance fee at Hobas and continue to the main viewpoint where I find that I have the view over the second largest canyon in the world entirely to myself. In the silence I can hear the river in the depths of the canyon, a glistening thread of life, and every now and then the sound of wings as a swallow flies close by at high speed in a fantastic aerobatic display. Wings, water, light and exquisite beauty. A gentle breeze blows. It’s a sublime moment.
Eventually I make my way back to my vehicle to explore the other viewpoints and gain new perspectives on life – and the striking scenery. As the sun dips in the sky colouring this earth masterpiece in gold, I climb out the vehicle, sit on the edge of the canyon, crack open a beer and toast the magnificence of life.