The Skeleton Coast

The Ugab Rivier marks the start of Namibia's Skeleton Coast and since 1971, it has been protected as the Skeleton Coast National Park, which stretches up to the Kunene River at the Angolan border. The southern part of this conservation area - up to Terrace Bay - is only freely accessible with a permit. The northern part can only be visited with a private safari company.

Dense fogs, mighty storms and violent surf caused many ships in the past to run aground along the Skeleton Coast, and the desolate coastline has become known as the world's biggest ship graveyard. Those who were shipwrecked and managed to swim through the roaring surf and reach the coast, still didn't stand a chance of survival because of the waterless, hostile, 300km wide coastal desert.

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