The Skeleton Coast

A desert graveyard

The Skeleton Coast is one of the most inhospitable places on earth yet amazingly alluring to those eager to experience first hand its bleak beauty and desolate loneliness. Its name relates to the many shipwrecks that have occurred along this part of the coast; where the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean meet the warm shores of the Namibian coastline, a dense fog is formed.

A perilous stretch of coastline

This natural phenomenon has been the downfall of many a sailor over the years and if you visit the Skeleton Coast today, you will see that there is nothing to interrupt the smoothness of the rolling dunes except the occasional trace of a shipwreck, ancient and sand-blown, left stranded and soon to be swallowed by the shifting sands.

The fear that sailors had of becoming shipwrecked along this bit of coastline was compounded by the knowledge that if they did make it ashore, their survival would be virtually impossible owing to the merciless conditions that would await them.

The name ‘Skeleton Coast’ actually only refers to the bit of coastline between the rivers Ugab and Kunene although it has also become a generic term for Namibia’s entire desert coast. Despite its desert-like conditions, the Skeleton Coast is home to flourishing populations of seals, penguins, flamingos, dolphins and brown hyena - an extraordinary contrast supported by icy cold seas and scorching hot desert.

Photographs with thanks to Wilderness Safaris