Running along the west coast of Namibia from just south of the Swakop River to Kunene River lies some land the Bushmen of the interior call "The Land God Made in Anger". This area has also been called “The Gates of Hell” by Portuguese sailors. Known to many as “The Skeleton Coast”
The land is rugged and unforgiving. With annual rainfall of 10mm as the wind blows from land to sea and dense ocean fogs the climate is very inhospitable.
The name Skeleton Coast comes from all the seal and whale bones that once littered the coast. Now the coast is littered with more than 1,000 different sea vessels.
On the drive from Swakopmund to Henties bay you can find a seal colony as well as the wreckage of the Zelia India.
Further along you enter the gates of the park where you can also find parking spots to walk the beach and find more wreckage protruding from the sand and waves as well as off the coast.
Depending on the time of year though, you have to turn off before Torra Bay, but during December and January you can carry on further up the coast being careful to reach the exit point before the tide catches you.
While you are not allowed to drive off the roads and on the sand in much of Namibia, unless in designated areas to help keep the pristine sand intact and help the conservation, sadly many visitors decide that these rules do not apply to them, scarring the landscape up dunes that will take decades to heal.
Entry gates to the protected area
Just some beautiful road
The Zelia India found just south of Henties Bay
Windswept
Wreckage
Wreckage
Just leaving a parking area after looking for some wreckage
The sad state of some of the protected area where some tourists flout the rules and treat everywhere as their own personal playground
More windswept