The name Sesriem (which means 'six belts' in Afrikaans) was given to the canyon and the nearby settlement by the settlers returning from the Dorsland Trek. They tied together six straps made of Oryx hide to lower buckets into the canyon to get water. The canyon is a narrow fissure in the sandstone carved 30m deep in places by the Tsauchab River. After heavy rains in the Naukluft Mountains the canyon do flood but for most of the year the riverbed is dry with a few pools with cool water. You have to climb down the steps that are cut into the rock face and walk along the riverbed of the canyon to appreciate the majestic wonder created by the power of water over millions of years. .

The walk down into the canyon is not strenuous, there are steps. Once you reach the bottom, the walk is fairly flat, and you can decide how far you want to walk. Towards the east the canyon ends after about 500m, and is narrow and interesting, and towards the west you can walk further into the open.

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Namibia