Skeleton Coast is in the northern part of the Atlantic Coast of Namibia and the south of Angola. It is also situated in the coastal region between the Atlantic Ocean, Damara Land and the Kaoko Land.
Then, the BushMen referred to it as the land God made in anger while the sailors from the Portuguese called it the gates of hell.
Despite the names the Skeleton Coast was given, it is now termed as a good surfing location.
The coast got its name after some crew members who survived a shipwreck discovered they were in a desert that was harsh with no freshwater and because of their sun-bleached skeletons plus the wrecks of their ships, the coastline was named the skeleton coast.
It is the world known largest ship cemetery because of the shipwrecks found on the coast. Even though Namibia has several shipwrecked vessels, the skeleton coast is said to be solely responsible for many of the wrecked ships. The ruins on the harsh coastline have been destroyed by the sun, sea, and wind. The remains are found by explorers and it is said that there are only three of these ships still visible.
The name, “Skeleton Coast” was coined by John Henry Marsh as a title for his book which he wrote on the shipwreck of the Dunedin Star. After the book was published in 1944, the coast became well known as the skeleton coast and is been used as the official name of the coast to date.
Due to the nature of the coastline, most ships have been ruined. The coast has soft sand which is occasionally interrupted by rocky outcrops.
The Skeleton Coast National Park is about 16,000sq km from the Ugab River to the Kunene. The notable features are the clay castles of the Hoarusib River and the agate mountain salt pans.
The coast has continued to fascinate foreign visitors even though it is bleak and inaccessible. It has one of Africa’s great untouched wilderness which draws visitors to want to experience nature. On the coast, access is only by fly-in safari and the visits to the skeleton national park is exclusive and expensive.