The Skeleton Coast

The Skeleton Coast is so called because if a ship was wrecked on the shifting sand banks off the coast (and many were), all the surviving sailors had to look forward to was a certain death in the waterless desert. Kirsten's mother (Judith) took control of the Nissan Beast (it does an impressive 6km/l while sounding like a tank), along the salt road following the coast north. The shore is dotted with evenly spaced toilet blocks serving the coastal camp site – apparently South Africans and Namibians like to come here to sea fish; they must really like their fishing to camp out here.














Twenty miles or so north of Swakopmund is the 'town' of Wlotzasbaken – perhaps one of the oddest looking places on earth. There are around 100 brightly painted houses spread around the desert, each with its own water tower, serving as holiday homes for the fishing mad. As we drove though the town it seemed deserted, save for the odd 4x4 parked in a drive. Further along the coast a modern wreck lay listing to starboard 30 metre from shore. Nearby, many bearded men were sea fishing from in front of their 4x4s parked on the beach.














The road inland to Uis is an almost straight dirt track across the desert - the telegraph poles that follow the road disappear into the distant mirage, looking like they are floating above the horizon. This part of Namibia is noticeably more poor; people try to flag you down to their roadside stalls selling semi-precious stones, and at the petrol station in Uis the car was quickly surrounded by people selling their wares.















Our destination for the evening was the Xaragu camp site in Damaraland; notable for its vulgar baboon on a chain. Although if you can overlook this, the setting is beautiful. Along the way women stood bare breasted, enticing you to stop for a photo-opt. Heading back east you hit the town of Outjo on the main road from Windhoek to Etosha. This has a rather good German bakery (with free WiFi), together with a collect of tourist gift shops. From here we reached the gates of Etosha National Park around mid-afternoon.