Skeleton Coast, Eating

Due to the park's remoteness, eating is offered only at the lodges.

If you are, however, staying in Henties Bay, there are two main restaurants in addition to several small takeaways, as well as petrol filling station shops.

To save money, is best to buy yourself a cooler either in Swakopmund or Windhoek and fill it with supplies before heading to the Skeleton Coast Park.

Skeleton Coast (4)

Despite the coast's isolation, it is home to a variety of animals and birds.

On the plains: jackal, oryx, springbok, brown hyena, and ostrich, all maraud.

In the several dry riverbeds: lion, giraffe, desert elephant, and black rhino roam in constant search of vegetation and the sparse spring fed waterhole.

The northern section of the park is part of the concession area, while the south is open to more traveler friendly activities.



Arrival: the best way to visit the Skeleton Coast is with your own vehicle.
It is possible to hire a driver or company to take you there, but it will be rather expensive.

You may consider hiring a vehicle for only a few days to see the place, and then return to public transport or hitchhiking.

Skeleton Coast (3)

The landscape is both diverse and alive: vast desert plains are home to large lichen fields and spring into life with the coastal fog, turning the otherwise white-backed dunes into a shade of green.
Over 100 species of lichen grow on the plains and on the westward facing slopes.

The windswept dunes further inland have a plethora of colors, from ivory to maroon.
The maroon coloration is contributed to the garnet sand, while some are even black in color due to magnetite and limonite particles shifting and existing with the ivory colored particles.

The area also hosts rugged canyons, deeply colored volcanic stone, and extensive mountain ranges.

Skeleton Coast (2)

The area takes its name from the numerous vessels that fell victim to the coastal rocks.

Bones of countless whales reminiscent of the heydays of heavy whaling fleets, , and the remains of countless tugs, liners and trawlers left to the elements can be seen for miles.



Trees carried downstream during years of extensive rain, lay lifeless in heaps at the mouth.

Together, it seems whatever comes to the area, perishes and leaves only its skeleton.

Skeleton Coast (1)

The Skeleton Coast is one of Namibia's most mysterious and bewitching places.

Europeans feared its incomprehensible size, vastness and isolation, which kept Namibia out of reach to European colonization for so many centuries.

Today, the same feelings are aroused, luring travelers towards the treacherous coastline and large desert wastes.



Beginning in the far northwestern corner, bordering Angola from the Kunene River, the desert stretches along the Atlantic coast until it touches the northern side of the Ugab River to the south.

The narrow tract of desert is approximately 40-50 km wide and 500 km long.

In 1971 it was declared a nature reserve , and today the nature conservation authorities manage its wilderness with tight regulations, limiting both development and the number of visitors able to enter the area.

Henties Bay (2)

Over 200.000 Cape fur seals call Cape Cross home.

Each year, from April to November, the government sponsors an annual seal cull, which employs several hundreds less fortunate Namibians but unfortunately also kill hundreds of seals each season.



The annual culling sparks controversy and debate each year.
The seal's genitals are sold to the Asian market, the skins are flipped into high quality products for the European market and the meat goes to Taiwan, while the rest goes into cattle feed.

Cape Cross is also home to a very intriguing lichen reserve.
Explore this interesting organism on foot, and watch them come to life with a little sprinkle of water.

Henties Bay (1)

Located 80 km north of Swakopmund, Henties Bay is a fishing town popular among anglers (the best way to visit Henties Bay is in your own vehicle).

The Delta of the Omaruru River is here and provides a nutrient rich environment for hungry fish offshore.
It's most popular for Cape Cross (another 46 km north of Henties Bay), whose history dates back to 1485 when Portuguese explorer Diego Cao was the first European to set foot on Namibia.



Here he planted a 2 m high stone cross in honor of king John I of Portugual.
The original cross was taken down by German sailors and taken to the Oceanographical Museum in Berlino, but in 1974 a second cross was replaced in the same spot as Diego Cao's original.
The cross is made of Namibian Dolerite, blending in beautifully with the rocky outcrops.
Cao's original inscriptions can now be read in Latin, Portuguese, English, Afrikaans and German.