Cape cross and the skeleton coast

After a pleasant sojourn in Swakopmund we headed north up the coast to Cape Cross and then the skeleton coast. Note the weather, as soon as we set off we were into dense fog and cold wind blowing off the Atlantic. Quite a shock after the sunny desert, now were were in a foggy desert. There is almost no rainfall along the coastal strip, what water the plants and animals get is caught from the fog. The land looks completely barren and it is except for lichen clinging to the rocks.

The road is smooth, paved with a combination of salt (which they have a lot of) and cement. We passed a whole series of campgrounds that are full in the summer months with families escaping the heat and surf fishing. Nobody home this time of year, just beach and ocean on the left side of the road, bare grey gravel desert on the right.

We stayed the night at Cape Cross Lodge watching the waves and fog and thinking about a San Francisco summer at Ocean Beach. I went out for a short walk before dinner and was amazed at the amount of bones amongst the sand. I was puzzling over this when I noticed what looked like bones from a human hand, except with unusually long fingers. Really creepy. Then I realized they were seal bones, seal flippers have bones internally similar to a hand. There is a seal colony nearby which explained part of the puzzle. On the way back I saw two jackals which filled in the rest.

Jackals get a bad rap I think, but they are really graceful and stylish animals. Trotting along like some purebred dog, decorated with a dark colored back. The black back jackal (BBJ). They prey on the seals which explains the bones. We didn't actually go to see the seal colony. It was described as noisy and smelly ("the smelliest place in Namibia" was one description) and didn't open in the morning until 10:00 so we passed and hit the road instead.

Just up the road are the gates to Skeleton Coast Park. Note the skulls on the gate, quite a nice touch. Used to be in the days before GPS and radar and all that a lot of ships ran aground here. And when they did the crews were in big trouble. With no water and miles and miles to go to get some, if you knew which way to go. The picture is of the wreck of the Benguela Eagle which has some story that you can look up. There is getting to be a real problem maintaining the Skeleton Coast image since ship wrecks are getting less frequent and the few remaining wrecks are deteriorating fast. There is a Russian trawler on the beach between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund but I suspect that was planted. There is another abandoned trawler anchored in the harbor that looked to be in line for the next needed shipwreck.

Then out the north end of the park and into Damaraland. More on that next time.

Map

Soccer update: Nigeria whupped Belgium 4-1 in today's semi. Final against Argentina on Saturday the 23rd.