namibia africa where the desert meets the sea

You’ll find all kinds of animals, big and small, who call the desert home.įrom grey louries and Cape gannets to flamingoes and chestnut-banded plovers, birds are abundant in the area. But the Skeleton Coast is home to a wide range of plant and animal life, adapted to withstand the harsh conditions. Such a hostile region doesn’t conjure images of flourishing wildlife. While most refer to the Northern half of the park as the Skeleton Coast Wilderness. The southern part of the coast is known as the National West Coast Recreation Area. And it’s split roughly into two main sections. It stretches from the Ugab River all the way to the northern reaches of Namibia. The Skeleton Coast National Park covers most of the broader Skeleton Coast area. Here, you’ll find some of the tallest sand dunes in existence – some reaching over 1,000 feet. It forms part of the Namib Desert one of the oldest and driest deserts in the world. It’s a protected area, 500 km long and about 40 km wide. The Skeleton Coast stretches from the coastal town of Swakopmund in Namibia to the Kunene river at the Angolan border. And it offers experiences that are unlike any others. It’s so unfamiliar and desolate, that it challenges your ability to truly take it in. The area is alien and foreboding, and this is its charm. One can find gigantic whale rib bones and vertebrae half-buried, alongside the bones of desert dwellers. Faced with 50☌ heat, no water, and an infinite sea of dunes, most didn’t survive for long.Īnd if that isn’t enough to justify the name, you’ll also find animal bones peppering the desert. If sailors managed to survive a wreck, they found themselves trapped in the arid desert wilderness. You can find the skeletons of their crews here, too. With some of them buried deep in the dune-filled landscape, far from the foggy shore. The area is the world’s largest ship graveyard. These are the skeletons of ships driven ashore over the centuries by thick fog and infamous ocean currents. The ghostly remains of over 1,000 shipwrecks are strewn across the endless stretches of sand. While the exact story behind this name is hazy, it’s not difficult to see why it stuck. However, it is best known by its official name: The Skeleton Coast. Each one as deserved as the next. Early Portuguese sailors called it ‘ The Sands of Hell’, while Namibia’s native Bushmen referred to it as ‘ The Land God Made in Anger’. Namibia’s northwestern stretch of desert coastline has earned itself a range of formidable titles. Tales of the Skeleton Coast: Shipwrecks and Bones This guide offers insights into the elusive Skeleton Coast, as well as a breakdown of the best ways to visit it. And it’s an incredible place to visit for adventure seekers, animal lovers, historians, and photographers alike. Yet it’s one of the most beautiful places on Earth. The skeleton coast is notorious for being harsh and desolate. Each one topped by a fine, wind-carved ridge, snaking into the distance. Its bizarre, Martian landscapes contain towering dunes soaring high against the crisp blue sky. The area is one of the most remote and sparsely populated places on the planet, and exudes an otherworldly atmosphere. But along Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, the orange dunes of the Namib Desert give way to the cold, rough waters of the Atlantic Ocean. There are few places on Earth where the desert meets the ocean.

Namibia africa where the desert meets the sea