Namibia’s Skeleton Coast: ‘The Land God Made in Anger’

Posted by Mike Richard on March 31, 2008
Filed under: Namibia, Sidelines

Like what you see? Subscribe to the full RSS feed.

Namibia’s Skeleton Coast

Local bushmen call it, ‘The Land God Made in Anger.’

You could land on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast - but you couldn’t leave it. Sailors would be pushed ashore in heavy surf - sometimes in dense ocean fog, to boot - and beach themselves. The next morning, they would realize that they were surrounded, by nothing but a hundred miles of the world’s harshest desert.

One WWII cargo ship, the MV Dunedin Star, crash-landed in 1942 - as did every attempt at rescue. One rescue tug smashed on the rocks, drowning its crew. A bomber, dropping supplies to the survivors, crashed into the ocean. But those pilots actually made it ashore, even managing to join up with the survivors of the Star. The entire ragged convoy reached Namibia’s capital city, Windhoek, one month later.

These days, the Skeleton Coast is a national park. Over a thousand ships are still rusting in the dunes.

If you liked this post, subscribe to our full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by email and have new posts delivered directly to your inbox daily.

This article was reprinted with permission of Cool Things In Random Places - a little refreshing randomness from around the globe.

Vagabondish editor Mike Richard lives in Rhode Island - a small patch of land in the northeastern U.S. He is a professional web designer and travel junkie with an unhealthy addiction to backpacking, camping, hiking and seeing the world. He enjoys knit hats and speaking in the third person.



Like This Post? You Might Also Like:

Our Sponsors

Comments

Ben
March 31st, 2008 - 8:02 pm

Interesting. I hope someday, I’ll be able to photograph this coast.


Abigail
May 11th, 2008 - 2:39 pm

Hello,
My name is Abigail Naslund, I am a 7th grader at Lincoln Community School in Accra Ghana. I am doing a research project about Skeleton Coast, and I need some extra information that I can’t find anywhere else. I just have a question about the local people and how it affects them, positivity or/and negatively, and any addition information that is important about Skeleton Coast. If you have time please e-mail me back at cool_dolphin95@hotmail.com

Thank You,
Abigail