The most extraordinary of Namibia's many spectacles is the bone-white sands that comprise the great Skeleton Coast, an eerie of beach that extends from the country's northern border to the Namib-Naukuft Park in the south.

Hemmed by the cold Atlantic in the west and the dry interior to the east, the 1,6 million hectares of the Skeleton Coast Park is an untamed wilderness divided into two main regions. The backing sand of the Namib covers the northern stretch, while the south is made up of dry gravel plains scattered with boulders and laced, in some parts, with seasonal rivers.

Although there are few mammal species, the coast is renowned for its abundant bird life. The volatility of the elements and the relentless battering of wave and wind lend to this landscape an almost surreal beauty.

The coast can be shrouded in mist for days, which helped to earn it the reputation as the world's largest shipping graveyard, over 100 vessels have run aground here

Driving the Skeleton Coast

The SKeleton Coast is an extensive wilderness and a traveller's paradise. Although sparsely vegetated, it boasts a unique array of life forms that have made unusual adaptations to life on this sandy dry and wind-blown shore that stretches from the country's most northern border with Angola down to the dry and dusty plains of the Namib desert in the Namib Nukluft Park.

Fun on Four wheels

The rocky coast is battered by the wind and pummeled by the ocean waters, and much of it is traversed over bumpy dirt roads or tared roads in a sad state of disrepair. The Southern Reches are covered by the sandy dunes of the Namib, and gravell plains of the north are liberally sprinkled with boulders, rocks and rivers.

The hardy surfaces here pose potential problems for foolhardy drivers: visitors travelling in a 4x4 through the region are advised to drive carefully, especially in the areas that seen no rain for some time. Sometimes they heve had too much rain!

The Scenic beauty of the colours and contrasts that dot the sea scape along the sandy coastline might seem idyllic to romantic-at-heart adventurers, yet these quiet and lengthy stretches of beach sand are considerably less hospitable when youi are stranded and helpless under the blazing sun. Despite the aridity of the broader region, the Namibian Coast and inland ares are a haven for adventurers, but the golden rule is: do your homework first so that you are prepared for anything eventually.