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4 days every Wednesday $2370 - 2660 5 days every Saturday $2500 - $3000
The Skeleton
Coast Park is one of our planet's most inhospitable, but hauntingly beautiful
places - it is wild, desolate and uninhabited. It has everything from roaring
sand dunes, windswept plains, towering canyons, salt pans to seal colonies,
shipwrecks and even one of the most productive fishing grounds anywhere.
Fresh water springs permeate through barren sands to create rare oases
in the desert which sustain pockets of wildlife. Springbok, Gemsbok (Oryx),
the Desert Elephant, Ostrich, Jackal and Brown Hyena eke out an existence
in this rugged terrain, along with vegetation like Welwitschia which
has adapted to the harsh conditions.
We offer two safaris, one for four nights/five days (departing every Saturday) and another for three nights/four days (departing every Wednesday). Both are flying safaris, starting and ending in Windhoek. However once we arrive at the Skeleton Coast we spend all our time in vehicles. Both Safaris can usually be combined with our Best of Namibia Wing Safari. This safari is unlike any of our other safaris. The area is so vast and there is so much to see and experience. If you have the time available, make sure you book the five day safari. We abandon our traditional early morning and afternoon activities and leave camp after breakfast and spend the full day exploring the park. A picnic lunch is enjoyed out in the wild and we return to base camp in the later afternoon. We travel in 4x4 Land Rovers and cover an extraordinary variety of terrain. All safaris visit remote Himba villages just outside the park for an incredible cultural experience. Even though this is a "Five Paw" safari, the terrain is harsh, rough and rugged. We will try and make this as comfortable as possible, but we have no way of hiding from elements. Sometimes we can experience cold temperatures - and then 400m up the valley, we encounter warm desert winds. This is not a safari for those without a spirit of adventure, but it will be enjoyed by those who are looking for a true wilderness experience in some of the most spectacular scenery in Southern Africa. SAFARI SUMMARY:
Namibia's Skeleton Coast is one of our planet's most beautiful places and is now host to one of our finest safaris. Over much of the past decade, access to this private area within the National Park has been restricted. However, in April 2000 we opened our 12~bedded, luxury tented camp and we can now offer superb 4 or 5 day fly~in safaris to this incredible area, with guaranteed departures every Wednesday and Saturday. Close on 300,000 hectares (660,000 acres) of the National Park has been set aside as an exclusive safari experience for those who want to really get away! It is wild, desolate and uninhabited ~ and stunningly beautiful. The Benguela Current brings cool, plankton and fish~rich waters all the way from Antarctica and moderates the temperatures in the region. 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, even though we are in the desert! The cool ocean air meets the warm desert air and nearly every morning mists cover the coastline, bringing life~sustaining moisture to the desert's fauna and flora. Skeleton Coast Camp is a 12~bedded camp. We have six luxury tented rooms on raised wooden decks with en-suite bathrooms providing flush toilet, hand basin and shower. The rooms are attractively furnished incorporating locally found natural materials and all rooms have overhead fans and 12v lighting. The main area incorporates a dining room, lounge and bar area surrounded by glass concertina doors to allow for uninterrupted views of the desert beyond. In fair weather we dine al fresco under an ancient leadwood tree, around the camp fire under the stars. This is not a pure game viewing safari. Freshwater springs permeate through the barren sands to create rare oases in the desert that sustain pockets of wildlife. Springbok, Gemsbok (Oryx), the rare desert Elephant, Cape Fur Seals, Brown Hyaena, Jackal, Ostrich and occasionally even Cheetah eke out an existence in this rugged terrain, alongside desert~adapted vegetation such as Welwitschia and Lithops, the succulant "flowering stones". Our routine here is quite different from that of our other safari camps. There is an incredible amount to see and do. Breakfast is enjoyed in camp and then we head out all day into the Park. We take along a picnic lunch and only return at sunset. The days are full, rewarding and enriching. This area has everything…from soaring sand dunes that roar, wonderful, vast, pastel~coloured plains, towering canyons and mountains, salt~pans to seal colonies and shipwrecks. Add to that the game viewing! We are also able to visit authentic Himba settlements, just outside the park, for an incredible cultural experience. Colin Bell writes his description of what you will experience: "The flight into the concession sets the tone for the safari. The further one flies north from Swakopmund, the more isolated the terrain becomes. But it is only after we passed Mowe Bay that we felt completely isolated and our senses really started tingling. Flying low level along the coast gives a wonderful overview of the area and of what was to come. When we reached the Hoarusib River we were greeted with the sight of a river in full flow. Inland, Namibia was having great rains and the countryside was lush and green. This has caused the Hoarusib to flow all the way into the sea. On the one bank of the river were towering sand dunes - over 700 feet tall and on the other massive, arid, rock formations. At their base was the flowing river. The Skeleton Coast rocked us with contrasts all the time. "On arrival in camp, we settled in and then headed off for the coast to Rocky Point by Land Rover. The track travels over wonderful open plains - with the odd gemsbok and springbok dotting the skyline. All is well until a slow moving barchan dune has covered the track and the road disappears. One has no alternative but to drive up and over these dunes. "The focus when driving here is to make sure that the vehicle never leaves the existing track on the solid surfaces, as new tracks can scar the earth for up to 100 years. But once one hits the soft sand, one can just about drive anywhere as the sand will blows over the tracks and covers them very quickly. "Rocky Point is one of the key landmarks on this coastline. Seals frolic offshore and dolphins come swimming close by. We are allowed to go fishing and in no time we landed three 6kg Cape salmon!! There is nothing to beat freshly caught fish cooked right on the beach. We returned to camp at sunset marveling at the wonderful changing pastel colours of the sky and desert countryside all the way home. "The next day, we headed for the Hoarusib River and traveled across colourful plains that had tinges of green from a touch of rain the previous week. [The area gets less than an inch of rain a year - so don't worry about being rained out here!] . At every turn, a different scene, different colours and more "oohs and aahs" greeted us! Gemsbok and springbok trotted across the landscape and then another surprise - a cheetah was eyeing the springbok on the open plain. The game in the area is good by desert standards and the sight of just a few gemsbok in this amazing scenery is breath taking. We squeezed the Land Rover through rugged canyons, over rough rocky gorges and down to the Hoarusib River, which was still flowing. Towering clay castles, deposited here millions of years ago dominated the scenery. We looked for desert elephant but had no luck probably due to the rains. "Each day we packed a picnic lunch and drinks and headed off in a different direction after breakfast, to arrive back in camp at sunset. The scenery is so stunning and varied that the days flew by and sunset arrived all too soon. As the temperatures are cool, none of us felt tired. "The following day we headed up to Cape Frio in the north of the park - to the seal colonies and the salt pans. Again the scenery was completely different from anything we had seen the day before. The track took us to the top of one mountain and we were able to gaze down to the dark floor of the plains. On top of this floor, barchan dunes rolled by in their hundreds creating a fascinating pattern of colours and textures which makes for superb photography. Cape Frio was a blast........ Thousands and thousands of seals live along this coastline and one can get very close to them. Every so often we would be able to get within a foot or two of a sleeping seal to photograph them. Seal skulls and massive whale vertebra are found along the beach giving credence to the area's name. Jackals scavenge off the seals and brown hyena tracks were everywhere. We did not see the "strandwolf", as it is called there - but our guides have seen them regularly. "Our last day took us past the site of the Charles Elliot shipwreck from 1942 and the gravesite. It has an incredible story of heroism and courage in this inhospitable terrain. Imagine being shipwrecked offshore here and sighting land thinking one has been saved....only to find oneself on these shores! Next stop was the massive southern dunes. To get there we had to cross the Hoarusib River. Although it was still flowing the level had dropped to only six inches or so and we crossed easily. Once across, the track took us south alongside the towering dunes. We were at sea level and the tops were 700 feet above us - but the track took us up and over the top on hard sands and the vehicles coped easily. On the top, we behaved like kids as we floated between heaven and earth when we drove across the tops of the dunes. The dunes here all "roar" when one slides down them, as the different sized particles rub up against each other and vibrate. The trick is to slide down the steepest face of the highest dune and to get the particles to create the roar. Friction is generated as you slide and the ground vibrates. It sounds as though one is in an ancient cathedral with an organ player playing the deepest notes. Again, we arrived back in camp late - but exhilarated. "We did not see a soul besides our friends and the camp staff. All of us came away having experienced the safari of a lifetime. We were enthralled from the moment we put our feet on the ground till we left. It was wonderful to spend all four nights in one camp and really get to know the area well. This is what we want for our guests to experience as well. Each day we traveled out after breakfast and spent the day in a new part of the park. After four nights, there were still massive areas that we had not had the chance to explore. We did not even get out to see the Himbas!! We all want to go back and explore the rest and revisit some of our favorite areas. "We had to leave early. Flying over Etosha was incredible. All the salt pans are filled with water creating a wonderful contrast from where we had come. We cleared customs at Grootfontein and headed for Maun." |
