Skeleton Coast Safari

We meet at Eros Airport, Windhoek at 10h00 for departure to the Skeleton Coast via Conception Bay. The Kuiseb canyon and adjoining red dunes are a spectacular view from the air. The flight includes an aerial view of the famous Eduard Bohlen shipwreck at Conception Bay.

After landing and refueling at Swakopmund, we continue with a low-level flight north along the Skeleton Coast past the seal colony at Cape Cross for a light picnic lunch near the beach. After lunch we cross the desert by aircraft to the Ugab formations, a nearly lifeless ‘moon landscape’ of numerous black ridges in stark contrast to the white desert floor. From here we proceed to our Kuidas camp in the Huab River Valley where we stay for the first night of our Skeleton Coast safari. Ancient rock engravings are found amongst the rocks within walking distance of the camp.

After breakfast we depart by Land Rover on the next leg of our Skeleton Coast safari to explore the colorful red lava and yellow sandstone of the Huab River environs and to be introduced to the ecological aspects of this area with its wide diversity of flora and fauna. This includes the Welwitschia Mirabilis, a tree that has been dwarfed by the rigors of the encroaching desert climate. We have lunch at Kuidas camp before flying along the coast to Terrace Bay in the Skeleton Coast Park. The most prominent shipwrecks along this part of the coast are the Montrose and Henrietta.

At the coast we access the roaring dunes by Land Rover, which always proves to be a stimulating experience and a wonderful photographic safari. We also visit the beach with its profusion of multicolored pebbles consisting of agate, lava, granite and quartz. Interesting to see are old bleached whale bones scattered along the beach above the high tide mark. We return to the aircraft and continue north to our Leylandsdrift camp in the Hoarusib Valley in the Kunene Region, where we stay for the night.

After breakfast we embark on a scenic drive along the Hoarusib Valley to visit a settlement of the nomadic Himba people. We might be lucky enough to come across the desert-dwelling elephant who frequent this valley. From here we continue north along the Skeleton Coast by aircraft to the Kunene River acting as a border to Angola. The Kaiu Maru shipwreck and pieces from old sailing vessels lie scattered along this part of the coast. From the airfield we take a scenic drive by Land Rover to our favorite lunch site. After lunch we continue through the mountains and dunes of the Hartmann Valley – which extends to the Kunene River – reaching our Kunene River camp in the late afternoon.

Your Skeleton Coast safari ends early this morning with a boat trip on the Kunene River, flowing through scenic desert landscape, observing bird life and possibly some crocodiles. Birds vary from aquatic species on the perennial waters, to endemic desert varieties and those that inhabit dense riverine vegetation. After lunch at the camp, we fly back to Eros Airport, Windhoek, arriving in the late afternoon.