Geography

The Skeleton Coast, which starts south of the Orange River, includes the whole Namibian coastline and continues across the Kunene River some 200 km into Angola. It is part of the Namib Desert, various sections of which have conservation status, namely the Namib-Naukluft Park in the south, the Skeleton Coast Park in the north (between the Ugab and the Kunene rivers) and the Iona Park in Angola. The coastline and adjoining Namib Desert form a sparsely populated area with landscape, animal and plant diversity, which varies from region to region.

The region south of Swakopmund to Lüderitz is mostly sandy desert where dunes start directly on the beach and extend some 70 km into the interior. This desert region is conserved as the Namib-Naukluft Park with the highest dunes in the world to be found at Sossusvlei. The true nature of the Skeleton Coast is borne out by the high proportion of interesting shipwrecks to be found along the coastline. Rocky outcrops at places such as Spencer Bay present a magnificent contrast against the dunes. Seals, birds, jackal and brown hyaena are some of the larger inhabitants of this mystic world.