Getting Hot at Ai Ais Hotsprings Resort

At the Southern end of the Fish River Canyon, the eye of a Sulphur hot spring led to the creation of one of the most popular resorts in Namibia. Ai-Ais, meaning burning water in the local Nama language is the first stop for many tourists heading North from South Africa.

The resort lies about 130 kilometres from the Vioolsdrift Border Control and the smooth dirt roads will take you there in less than two hours. The resort itself has plentiful services such as a fuel station, tyre repair, shop, spa and tennis courts. Visitors have a choice of accommodation including rooms, chalets and campsites. We visited during the South African school holidays, so the resort was quite full, but more about that later.

Ai-Ais is situated in the world renown Fish River Canyon, a must do on many hikers’ bucket lists. The hike through the desert is as tough as it is beautiful and in the late afternoon, hikers will start arriving at the resort, completing the five-day trek. One does not need to suffer a five-day hike to experience the canyon though. A quick road trip to Hobas will bring you to the start of the hiking trail where you can see the canyon in all of its glory. The 80 kilometres of dirt road will take about one hour, and you need to get a permit at the park office before entering the park. Canon Roadhouse which is about 20 kilometres from Hobas serves great burgers and will provide a well-needed rest stop after a day in the sun.

Back to the resort. As mentioned earlier, we visited during the South Africa school holidays, so the resort was quite full. Normally this would not be a problem as it creates a festive atmosphere around the resort. What did become a problem is the addition of a school group and an overland tour group. This turned the already full resort into a madhouse, with the facilities not capable of coping with the demand. There was no firewood, the shop was low on stock and the bathrooms had no chance in surviving the morning rush frequently overflowing the dated plumbing infrastructure.

The resort has low ratings on online review sites but due to its location tourists will still visit it. Unfortunately, it feels like NWR, the Namibia Wildlife Resorts, knows this and they are milking this natural beauty turned cash cow. The area has unprecedented natural history and features and should be treated as a treasure by the Namibian government, we hope they realise this before it’s too late.

To overcome some of the problems the resort had we made the following plans which may be useful if you find yourself in similar situations.

• Shower at the spa after you’ve swum in the hot pools, the bathrooms are much cleaner there.
• If the resort’s wood is finished, you can probably convince a member of staff to sell you some of their personal stockpiles.
• Stock up in the last town you find before heading to the resort, for us it was at Karasburg as we entered Namibia at the Nakop Border Control.
• Due to the Sulphur, the water is not drinkable at the resort with the exception of designated water taps. Fill a jerry can and keep it at your campsite to avoid walking back and forth to the reception.

This post forms part of our 2019 Namibia Road Trip. We planned an epic road trip the months leading up to June and it was worth every bit of planning, research and expense. We visited Augrabies, Fish River Canyon, Luderitz, Aus and Spitzkoppe to name only a few. We recommend the trip to anyone who wants to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. We will try to give as much up to date information as possible in this series of articles but recommend you check the local websites for the latest information before embarking on your journey.