Explore the Skeleton Coast Park

The Skeleton Coast Park is one of the planet's most hauntingly beautiful places. Wild, desolate, and undeveloped, it has everything from roaring sand dunes and windswept plains to towering canyons and salt pans. This is a rare opportunity to explore the little-visited northern sections of the park that are off limits to the general public-a very rugged area with limited access. While here you'll spend most of the day out in the wild, with a picnic lunch, and return to camp in the late afternoon. You'll also have a chance to visit with the Himba , who are celebrated for their traditional way of life.

Other "Build Your Own" African Adventures
We've selected our favorites of the best wildlife areas and exclusive tented camps and lodges in South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia. Choose two or more and create the safari of your dreams!
Botswana: Kalahari Desert Private Adventure
Botswana: Okavango & Linyanti Flying Safari Private Adventure
Malawi: Lake Malawi Private Adventure
Mozambique: Bazaruto Archipelago Private Adventure
South Africa: Cape Town Private Adventure
South Africa: Kruger "Giving Back" Private Adventure
South Africa: Safari Kruger National Park Private Adventure
Zambia: Safari Kafue National Park Private Adventure
Zambia: Walking in Zambia Private Adventure

Combine this trip with other journeys in Africa to create the ultimate dream safari vacation.

Activities

Easy wildlife viewing by vehicle, nature walks

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

• Explore the beautiful and rarely traveled northern section of Skeleton Coast National Park:
• Discover unusual wildlife and rare plants
• Visit with the Himba nomads

2010 PRICES
4-day trip (departs on Wednesday)
$3,895 per person (2 or more people)
$800 single supplement
$4,695 solo traveler
$600 internal airfare

5-day trip (departs on Saturday)
$4,195 per person (2 or more people)
$1,000 single supplement
$5,195 solo traveler
$600 internal airfare

Duration: 5 days Start Location: Windhoek End Location: Windhoek Best time to go: Year round

Itinerary

• Day 1 : Windhoek - Skeleton Coast

  From Windhoek, take a morning flight northwest to the remote and rugged Skeleton Coast, a strange landscape of sand dunes, gravel plains, and fog-bound, treacherous coastline. Activities include all-day safaris, game and nature drives, birding, and guided walks.

• Days 2 - 4 : Skeleton Coast Park

  You’ll spend the next few days exploring Skeleton Coast Park on foot or by vehicle. The arid desert environment in the Skeleton Coast is within the northern reaches of the Namib Desert. The cold Benguela current travels from Antarctica and brings plankton-rich waters to this coastline, along with massive amounts of fish. The current also helps to moderate temperatures. The cool air off the ocean meets the hotter desert air, and nearly every morning in winter, a cool mist envelops the coastline, bringing life sustaining moisture to the desert. (By about 9 or 10 a.m. this mist is burned off by the rays of the sun.)

  Freshwater springs permeate the barren sands to create rare desert oases that sustains pockets of wildlife. Springbok, gemsbok (oryx), the rare desert elephant, ostrich, Cape fur seals, jackal, and brown hyena—even cheetah on rare occasions—carve out an existence in this rugged terrain, along with vegetation like the ancient Welwitschia that has adapted to the harsh conditions.

  Though there are many regions in the Skeleton Coast, we’ll visit the most isolated, beautiful, remote, and private northern sector of the park—just north of Mowe Bay to just south of the Kunene River. While here we’ll spend most of the day out in the wild, with a picnic lunch, and return to camp in the late afternoon. We travel in 4x4 Land Rovers with pop-top roofs and cover an extraordinary variety of terrain. Nature drives may include visits to the clay “castles” of the Hoarusib River, deposited here around 35,000 years ago; Rocky Point on the coast, where seals frolic offshore and dolphins swim close by; the roaring dunes; lichen fields; and possibly a shipwreck site. We may also have a chance to do some walking—due to the pristine nature of the area, many parts are accessible only on foot, and we’ll be able to search out many specially adapted species of plants like lithops and welwitschia.

• Day 5 : Depart

  Transfer to the airstrip and fly back to Windhoek.

Properties shown are representative of the accommodations we use on this trip, may not be inclusive of all accommodations we use, and are subject to change.

Expert leadership is the key to an exciting, unforgettable experience. Our trips feature gifted leaders for whom leading trips is a true vocation. Besides showing you wonders you’d never find on your own, they make sure everything runs smoothly and safely without a hitch. They are knowledgeable about all aspects of your trip, and take great pleasure in sharing their insights with you. More than just guides, they positively elevate your experience by being teachers, companions, and the best of friends. You’ll be in good hands with them every step of the way.

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