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Surprising treasures of Namibia’s arid coastline

The Namibian coastline remains one of most fascinating and intriguing in the world due to its inhospitable appearance and the mystery implied by its pseudonym – the Skeleton Coast. It is rich in legends, fables and history, but also full of surprises for those who take a look beyond the mere obvious.

Although the entire coastline of Namibia formerly was called “The Skeleton Coast”, more commonly today it refers only to the Skeleton National Park, which stretches from the Kunene River in the north of the country for approximately 500 kilometres south to the Ugab River.

It represents about one-third of the country’s coastline.

The Skeleton Coast is associated generally with famous shipwrecks, and stories abound of sailors walking for hundreds of kilometres through this barren Namibian landscape in search of food and water.

The name came from the bones that lined the beaches from whaling operations and seal hunts, but more than a few of the skeletons were human.

The Bushmen called it “The Land God Made in Anger” and the Portuguese knew it as “The Gates of Hell”.

Ever since European navigators first discovered it, ships have wrecked on its offshore rocks, or run aground in the blinding fog. While small boats could land, the strong surf made it impossible to launch, hence the stories of sailors walking through the murderous terrain.

The landscape includes sand dunes, canyons and mountain ranges – all of which are synonymous with Namibia.

The climatic conditions are not necessarily what you would expect in a desert country such as Namibia: dense fog and cold sea breezes caused by the cold Benguela Current that flows offshore, meeting with the extreme heat of the Namib Desert.

First Europeans

The first European to set foot on Namibian soil was the Portuguese Cão in 1485, who stopped briefly on the Skeleton Coast at what is known today as Cape Cross, and raised a limestone cross there, on his exploratory mission along the west coast of Africa.

The next European to visit was another Portuguese, Bartholomeu Dias, who stopped at what today is Walvis Bay and Lüderitz (which he named Angra Pequena) on his way to round the Cape of Good Hope.

The coast has scores of shipwrecks, some are barely recognisable, others still in remarkably good condition.

Perhaps these tragedies were meant to happen, as the wrecks provide excellent environments for Cape fur seals, living side by side with seabird colonies, offering unequalled maritime photographic opportunities.

The most famous of the Skeleton Coast’s wrecks was the Dunedin Star cruise liner, which sank just off the coast in 1942. The dramatic rescue attempt included the additional wrecking of a rescue boat and small plane.

But the Skeleton Coast is also home to some of the most fascinating and less spoilt environmental treasures still available on the globe.

Cape Cross, for example, hosts the largest breeding Cape fur seal colony in the world. The Cape fur seal, which is actually a type of sea lion, numbers around 100 000 at Cape Cross.

The Kunene River in the north delivers its own unique and scary surprise to the unsuspecting. The river rises in the remote Angolan highlands and is one of Namibia’s few perennial rivers, forming one of the country’s two permanent estuaries.

The crocodile population is still as large and aggressive as ever, even though the wildlife population has declined over the centuries. The strong flow of the Kunene resists tidal excursion and the fresh water pushes several kilometres out to sea – and beware, the crocodiles follow!

The mouth of the Kunene River also marks the southernmost breeding territory of the one-metre long green turtle. The same river is home to the only southern African population of Nile soft-shelled turtles with large, long necks. Caution is advised in their company, as they can be aggressive.

Despite its arid and deadly appearance, the Skeleton Coast has a greater variety of species than many other parks in southern Africa. Large mammals including Namibia’s famous desert-adapted elephant, black rhino, lion, cheetah, giraffe, gemsbok, zebra, springbok and spotted and brown hyena, are found in the dry river beds that flow from the interior of Namibia through the Namib Desert to the Skeleton Coast.

It is not only the larger mammals that can thrive in a desert environment, and reptiles provide many curiosities in the park. Watch out for the near endemic Gerrhosaurus skoogi, an armour-plated lizard that prowls the sand-dune sea in search of vegetation detritus and !Nara melon bushes. This large, striking reptile can measure up to 30cm long and can weigh up to 120g.

As many as 247 species of birds have been recorded in the Skeleton Coast Park, including the near endemic Damara Tern that nests and breeds on the gravel plains adjacent to the coast.

Piet Coetzer

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