The Skeleton Coast is a tough place, but the starkness gives it a unique allure.
Bleak beauty —
The Skeleton Coast is a tough place, but the starkness gives it a unique allure.
karen bowerman
This may be Africa but a tour of the Skeleton Coast focuses on small animals, not big game -- lizards, jackals, insects and birds. They're the ones most likely to survive in this arid region.
Big country, little creatures —
This may be Africa but a tour of the Skeleton Coast focuses on small animals, not big game -- lizards, jackals, insects and birds. They're the ones most likely to survive in this arid region.
karen bowerman
Animal bones give the Skeleton Coast its name but there are plenty of ships' carcasses, too.
Sandy grave —
Animal bones give the Skeleton Coast its name but there are plenty of ships' carcasses, too.
courtesy namibia tourism board
Seals' antics provide light relief. Their smell is also pretty distracting.
Diverting seals —
Seals' antics provide light relief. Their smell is also pretty distracting.
karen bowerman
Ghost crabs scuttle into the waves ... even the crustaceans have morbid names here.
Crab dip —
Ghost crabs scuttle into the waves ... even the crustaceans have morbid names here.
karen bowerman
The Himba are Namibia's last pastoralists, with a diet consisting solely of meat. The women clean their skins with ocher.
Last pastoralists —
The Himba are Namibia's last pastoralists, with a diet consisting solely of meat. The women clean their skins with ocher.
karen bowerman
Seal skulls remaining from the Skeleton Coast's defunct whaling industry. The odd shipwreck victim's bones are probably jumbled in, too.
Morbid remains —
Seal skulls remaining from the Skeleton Coast's defunct whaling industry. The odd shipwreck victim's bones are probably jumbled in, too.
karen bowerman
With whale corpses galore, jackals must once have had a feast on the Skeleton Coast -- here one rests on the sand.
Days of the jackal —
With whale corpses galore, jackals must once have had a feast on the Skeleton Coast -- here one rests on the sand.
karen bowerman
Skeleton Coast animals rely on special techniques to obtain moisture. Jackals lick humidity from stones; beetles channel droplets along their backs and into their mouths.
Parched territory —
Skeleton Coast animals rely on special techniques to obtain moisture. Jackals lick humidity from stones; beetles channel droplets along their backs and into their mouths.
karen bowerman
Air trapped between grains of sand makes the dunes "roar" when you toboggan down them.
Hear the dunes roar —
Air trapped between grains of sand makes the dunes "roar" when you toboggan down them.
karen bowerman