ArticleKunene, Namibia6 min read
Flying the Skeleton Coast
Fog, shipwrecks and desert-adapted lions
Average rating 5.0 out of 5
5.02 reviews
The Skeleton Coast is too remote to drive in a few days, so we fly it. A light aircraft journey along one of the wildest coastlines on earth.
Where the desert meets the Atlantic
The cold Benguela current runs north along Namibia's coast and makes a thick fog that rolls inland most mornings. For centuries that fog drove ships onto the sandbanks, and the Portuguese sailors who called this coast "the sands of hell" were not exaggerating. The rusting hulls and whale bones that remain gave the Skeleton Coast its name.
Flying north from Swakopmund in a six-seater, you follow the line where the dunes run into the surf. Below are the wreck of the Eduard Bohlen, now stranded hundreds of metres inland as the desert has grown, seal colonies of tens of thousands at Cape Cross, and dry riverbeds like the Hoarusib and Hoanib that cut green ribbons through the desert.
Those riverbeds are home to desert-adapted elephants, giraffe and a small population of lions that hunt seals and cormorants on the beach. Seeing them is never guaranteed, which makes it all the more remarkable when it happens.
What a three-day fly-in covers
- Cape Cross seal colony from the air
- Shipwrecks at low level along the coast
- The Hoanib riverbed, tracking desert elephants
- A visit to the clay castles of the Hoarusib
Weight limits
About this story
Kagiso MolefeAuthor
Wildside ExpeditionsPublisher
Reviews
Write a reviewAverage rating 5.0 out of 5
2 reviews- ASAmira Saleh5 out of 5 stars7 Oct
The packing and photography tips were spot on: a soft bag and a beanbag for the camera were the best advice.
- TÁTomás Álvarez5 out of 5 stars26 Sept
Booked our camp from this and it was everything described. Waking up to elephants at the waterhole was unreal.
Comments
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- Zanele Dlamini
Thank you for including the quieter alternatives. The main spot was packed when we went.
- Noah Williams
Went back a second time because of this story and found even more to see.
- Aisha Bello
We did this last month and the timings were spot on. Thank you for the tip about going early.
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