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Namibia`s Skeleton Coast is one of our planet`s most beautiful places and hosts one of the finest safari experiences. Over much of the past decade, access to this private area within the national park has been restricted. The Skeleton Coast Camp opened in April 2000 and now offers superb fly-in safaris to this incredible area. The 300,000 hectare national park area is stunningly beautiful, as well as wild, remote and isolated.
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 very mild, even though this is 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 has five luxury tents with private bathrooms with cold running water. The tents are furnished with wooden flooring and solar-powered overhead fans. The central lounge and dining area offers views of the desert.
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 hyena, jackal, ostrich and the occasional cheetah eke out an existence in this rugged terrain, alongside desert-adapted vegetation such as welwitschia and lithops, the succulent "flowering stones".
Your routine here is quite different from that of the other safari camps. There is an incredible amount to see and do. Breakfast is enjoyed in camp and then you head out all day into the park. Picnic lunch is brought along, and return to the camp is only at sunset. The days are full, rewarding and enriching. This area has everything, from soaring sand dunes that roar, wonderful, vast, pastel-colored plains, towering canyons and mountains, saltpans to seal colonies and shipwrecks. You are also able to visit authentic Himba settlements, just outside the park, for an incredible cultural experience. |
