Albertina Nakale
Eveline de Klerk
Namibians breathed a collective sigh of relief as the news broke early last night that four ‘missing’ tourists were alive and well after a distress call was received by tourism officials over the weekend.
An immediate search and rescue mission was launched yesterday morning to locate the tourists who went missing in the scenic Fish River Canyon while hiking on Sunday.
They were part of 10 tourists who were hiking in the canyon. However, it emerged a misunderstanding set off the false alarm. “There is no one missing. It is just rumours. Support was given as some of them sustained injuries. They are, however, not lost. Their whereabouts are all known. There is or was no emergency. People spread lies. The South African couple just did not log out when they left. The other elderly couple was just injured, but they are fine and are home as we speak. They are all fine,” said Teofilus Nghitila, the executive director in the ministry of environment.
Meanwhile, two of the tourists were identified by their daughter as Trevor and Samantha Burger from South Africa.
The daughter, Tana Lancaster, made an emotional plea on social media early yesterday morning in an effort to find her parents.
“They were supposed to check in every night, but we haven’t heard from them since Thursday night when they arrived to start descending on Friday,” the distraught daughter wrote on social media.
According to her, her parents have sent three distress signals.
Lancaster described her parents as fit and active people, who have already hiked the canyon in the past.
The Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) confirmed yesterday afternoon they were, with the ministry of environment, working on a search-and-rescue mission for the tourists.
However, //Kharas police commander David Indongo yesterday said his office had not received any news of missing tourists.
“There is nothing reported at our police station. I only heard it from someone who called me from Walvis Bay.
I tasked my seniors to see if there are missing tourists at any local lodges,” he added.
NWR spokesperson Nelson Ashipala yesterday confirmed that they are aware of the four tourists who had been reported missing in the Fish River Canyon.
“Our rescue team, together with the Ministry of Environment, Tourism and Forestry is working around the clock to find these tourists. Group one comprising four adults embarked on their journey on Saturday, 7 May 2022. They sent out a distress call after reaching the first campsite. Our team rushed to the area where they indicated they were, but we did not find them there,” Ashipala added.
He said it has, however, also been established that six of the tourists who were from the first group have successfully made it out of the canyon already.
The Fish River Canyon is located in the south of Namibia. It is the largest canyon in Africa, as well as the second-most visited tourist attraction in Namibia. It features a gigantic ravine, in total about 160 kilometres long, up to 27 km wide, and in places almost 550 metres deep.
The scare comes after the NWR announced earlier that Namibia expects more than 4 000 tourists to descend into the canyon as the hiking season commences and runs from 1 May to 15 September 2022.
The NWR has appealed to all tourists who emerge from the canyon to ensure that they clock out at the Ai-Ais Hotsprings resort before continuing to their respective destinations.
“We again urge all tourists who are tackling the Fish River Canyon hike to please ensure their safety by sticking to the routes and where possible, to use a guide for this undertaking. We will update you as any new information comes in,” Ashipala stated.
Tragedies of such nature are not new as the bodies of two German nationals were found in the Fish River Canyon, days after they went missing during a hike in scorching conditions during 2016.
After a police helicopter search - with other officers on foot - the bodies of the two were seen from the helicopter, some distance from a viewpoint. In preparation for the season, NWR, in conjunction with the ministry of environment, embarked on a route marking and route inspection exercise in the Fish River Canyon from 12 to 17 April in anticipation of the start of the well-known Fish River Canyon hike.
Ashipala earlier indicated that the hiking list is already full, and the joint exercise by the two entities marked the beginning of the Fish River hiking season that will see throngs of tourists undertake the four to five-day guided or unguided hike into the canyon, with a total hiking distance of about 86km.
The Fish River Canyon is the second-largest canyon worldwide after the Grand Canyon in the United States. It forms part of the state-run Ai-Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.
–anakale@nepc.com.na