Skeleton Coast Camp and Fly-In Safari

This 5-day safari is a “flying” safari, starting in Windhoek’s Eros Airport in town at about 1000 on a Saturday and ending back in Windhoek again in the mid afternoon. However once we arrive at the Skeleton Coast we spend all our time on the ground in vehicles and on walks. Everyone on this safari starts and ends together.

We stay all four nights at Skeleton Coast Camp. This is a six-roomed luxury tented camp in the heart of the reserve. Skeleton Coast Camp is built onto an island in a dry riverbed about 20km inland from the coastline. Each of the 6 tents is large, roomy and has a bathroom en suite. As a result of water shortages, it is unfortunately not possible to offer a laundry service. We have a wonderful old gnarled leadwood tree – which offers shelter from the elements and this is our dining room for our outdoor meals.

This safari is unlike any of our other safaris. The area is so vast and there is so much to see and experience that we abandon our traditional early morning and afternoon activities. We leave camp after breakfast and spend the full day exploring the park. A picnic lunch is enjoyed out in the wild and we return to base 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 Hoarasub, Rocky Point, the roaring dunes, lichen fields, seal colonies, and remnants of shipwrecks. Walking may also play a part in the activities. Due to the pristine nature of this area, many parts are accessible only on foot. Many specially adapted species of plants like lithops and welwitschia can be visited in this way.

Even though this is a quality safari, the terrain is harsh, rough and rugged. We will try and make this as comfortable as possible, but we have no way of hiding from the elements. Sometimes we can experience cold temperatures – and then 400m up the valley, we encounter hot desert winds.