Skeleton Coast, Namibia

The Skeleton Coast Park is 500 km coastal area of Namibia extending from Ugab to Kunene river and the name "Skeleton Coast" comes from the number of abandoned shipwrecks lying on this remote and inaccessible shores, partially submerged in sand giving a ghostly look, there are also numerous of human and animal skeletons mostly buried and few lying outside due to which this whole area is called the Skeleton Coast. The shipwrecked man who reached the shore thought that they were saved. Unfortunately the nearest village over 200 km away and they had landed on one of the driest places on earth. They all died of thirst.

Especially in the olden days when the manual powered boats and small decked here, they found almost impossible to head back to the sea due to strong currents. More than a thousand vessels of various sizes are lying on this coast. Notable wrecks include the Eduard Bohlen, the Otavi, the Dunedin Star and Tong Taw.

This 20,000 square kilometer park is divided into northern and southern sections. Even though its an arid dessert the climate is quite opposite what one would expect, it is filled with fog almost all year long. The cold sea breeze from Benguela Current meets the heat of Namib dessert creating temperatures to vary. There are a lot of sand dunes, canyons and mountain ranges. If you want to drive in the desert you have to register and buy a permit like in every national park. When you leave the park you must write out and must carry essential supplies like water and food. There are quite a few 4 day safaris which operate in this area but lot of people prefer just a day only view without going to much in the interior on the 4x4 vehicles. Mean temperatures year round vary from a high of 28° C (82°F) to a low of 10°C (50°F). Summers are incredibly mild, especially considering it is in the desert. Almost 300,000 hectares of the National Park has been set aside as an exclusive safari experience. It is wild, desolate, uninhabited and stunningly beautiful.
Apart from the fearless solitude and ghostly shipwrecks you can see the aerial views of canyons, coastline and sand dunes and possible encounters with Himba people. Even though its so inhabitable if you are lucky, its possible to spot desert elephants, seal colonies, springbok, giraffe, brown hyena, ostrich, rare black rhino and even lion, but the animal sightings are not so frequent. The animals get most of their water from wells dug by the elephants or baboons. Some plants found here include desert succulents like lithops and Elephant foot can be seen. Many of the plant and insect species of the sand dune systems depend for their moisture on the thick sea fogs which engulf the coast and windblown detritus from the interior as food. A nomadic tribe called Himba tribe have figured out how to survive in these tough conditions but live further inland.