{"id":1048,"date":"2024-07-03T10:30:29","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T08:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/royalafricansafaris.com\/simon-belcher\/?p=1048"},"modified":"2024-07-03T10:31:38","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T08:31:38","slug":"namibias-skeleton-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/royalafricansafaris.com\/simon-belcher\/blog\/namibias-skeleton-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"Namibia’s Skeleton Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Skeleton Coast along Namibia\u2019s Atlantic coastline is one of the most remote, mysterious and therefore appealing parts of Africa to visit.\u00a0 <\/span>Washed by the cold Benguela current, the desert shores are a final resting place for countless ships which foundered there. The cold ocean water and the sun scorched desert are perfect conditions to produce the thick fogs which characterize this coastline and which cloak the sandbars and shore from view. There are 119 recorded shipwrecks along the Skeleton Coast and probably many more vessels which disappeared without a trace.<\/p>\n

Wrecks such as the Eduard Bohlen<\/i>, which ran aground in heavy fog between Swakopmund and Table Bay on September 05,1909, are well documented.\u00a0 <\/span>She was due to make a stop at Conception Bay to offload supplies for the diamond diggers and struck a sandbar 100 meters offshore. Despite unloading cargo and equipment to lighten her load and attempting to tow her off with the marine vessel Otavi<\/i>, the sandbar held fast.\u00a0 <\/span>Within ten days so much sand had settled around the vessel that it became possible to walk out to her at low tide. As the sand of the Namib desert slowly encroached on the sea, the wreck of the Eduard Bohlen<\/i> became landlocked until today where, 114 years later, she lies over 400 meters (1300 feet) from the high tide mark. However, her service did not end when she ran aground because the diamond miners for whom she had been delivering supplies realized that she was ideally positioned to become a hotel. The manager of the mine was allocated the captain\u2019s quarters. Apparently the miners even persuaded some ladies of ill repute to come all the way from Frankfurt to set up shop with the lure of glittering diamonds.\u00a0 <\/span>The hotel became a place for men to erase the harsh desert from their lives for a short time and spend some of their hard earned spoils. When the mining operation closed, the Eduard Bohlen<\/i> was finally left to her solitude.<\/p>\n

Not only does the shore have wrecks, but further inland are the scattered remains of other men\u2019s desperate attempts to make their fortunes from the unforgiving desert. Only their artifacts remain to tell of their shattered dreams of wealth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One benefit the sea fogs bring to this desolate shore is much needed fresh water.\u00a0 <\/span>The Namib Desert is the oldest in Africa and has very little precipitation, sometimes going sixteen years between rainstorms.\u00a0 <\/span>Life has adapted to harvest the fog which rolls inland every night: plants with leaves designed to harvest the water droplets and beetles with fuzzy back legs that do handstands to channel water drops down their carapace to their mouths. Men erect huge nets of shade cloth between towering masts and knock the dew into cisterns. There are desert-adapted elephants who know how to eke out a living in this harsh environment; they know where all the waterholes are and commute over tall golden dunes between oasis\u2019 to find food and water.<\/p>\n

This starkly desolate and hauntingly beautiful piece of Africa continues to remain a favorite of ours and we look forward to taking you here during your Namibian safari.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Skeleton Coast along Namibia\u2019s Atlantic coastline is one of the most remote, mysterious and therefore appealing parts of Africa to visit.\u00a0 Washed by the cold Benguela current, the desert shores are a final resting place for countless ships which foundered there. The cold ocean water and the sun scorched desert are perfect conditions to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":1049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNamibia's Skeleton Coast - Simon Belcher<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/royalafricansafaris.com\/simon-belcher\/blog\/namibias-skeleton-coast\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Namibia's Skeleton Coast - Simon Belcher\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Skeleton Coast along Namibia\u2019s Atlantic coastline is one of the most remote, mysterious and therefore appealing parts of Africa to visit.\u00a0 Washed by the cold Benguela current, the desert shores are a final resting place for countless ships which foundered there. 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