The Skeleton Coast Camino is part of our Namibia Walking Tours

The San people from the interior of Namibia called this coastline “the land the gods made in anger”. Portuguese explorers called it “the gates of hell”.

The name Namib means open space. Namibia – the land of open spaces.

The Skeleton Coast

The cold Benguela current, heavy surf and high winds make this a difficult stretch of ocean to navigate. As the evidence shows many ships have run aground here & more than 800 wrecks litter the coastline.
The coast is also littered with whale and seal bones.

From gravel plains in the south to giant sand dunes that fall right into the Ocean.

Namib Naukluft National Park was established in 1907 and is roughly 600km long and 150km wide. It is the 4th largest national park in the world and is over 49000 square Km. It runs from Lüderitz to Swakop river & it has a wide variety of fauna like Brown hyena, black backed jackal, snakes, geckos, bat eared fox and cape fox. The coastal wetland in this area is the summer home to over 150 000 migrant birds. You will see flamingos, pelicans, plovers, turnstones & avocets. Further south we will see Damara terns and dune larks hopping through the dunes.

This Skeleton coast Camino is an 80km slackpacking hike along the beach in the Namib Naukluft national park on the Skeleton coast of Namibia.

Sandwich harbor to the Eduard Bohlin shipwreck.

This is a unique opportunity to walk a coastline that is otherwise completely restricted. This area falls within the Namib Naukluft National Park and for 100 years was the Sperrgebiet 2. The restricted diamond area 2.

Highlights

Sandwich Harbor-Namib desert sand dunes-Shawnee shipwreck-Conception bay-seal colonies-Eduard Bohlin shipwreck.

+- 17km/day

Airport transfers & pre/post Camino accommodation can be organized.

N$18 500 Per Person Sharing
N$19 900 Single

Price valid until 1 January 2025

SADC residents receive 10% discount on the Camino price, not the permit.

Ministry of environment, fisheries and tourism Permit SADC residents N$4500
Ministry of environment, fisheries and tourism foreign passport holders N$5200

2023 Dates
14 November 2023 – 18 November 2023
(Special First Camino 25% discount for all SADC residents)

2024 Dates
25 January 2024 – 29 January 2024 (80km)
22 February 2024 – 26 February 2024 (80km)
23 March 2024 – 27 March 2024 (80km)
23 April 2024 – 27 April 2024 (80km)
3 September 2024 – 7 September 2024 (80km)
4 October 2024 – 8 October 2024 (80km)
1 November 2024 – 5 November 2024 (80km)
1 December 2024 – 5 December 2024 (80km)
30 December 2024 – 3 January 2025 (80km)

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Day 0

18:00 – Meet at TBA in Walvis Bay for the pre-departure briefing.

Day 1

Pick-up from Hotel in Walvis Bay and travel in 9-seater 4×4 vehicles to the start at Sandwich Harbor. We travel via the salt mines, pink lakes and the mud flats to the Kuiseb river delta & coastal wetlands which is one of five RAMSAR sites in Namibia. We start walking at the beginning of Sandwich harbor.

The name Sandwich comes from either the name of an English whaling ship or from the German word “sandfische” after a species of shark found there. Today you walk the beach of Sandwich Harbor. You will see Flamingos, pelicans and incredible bird life.

Day 2

Today you walk past the Shawnee shipwreck. The Shawnee ran aground in 1976 under mysterious circumstances. One legend is it was purposely run aground as part of an insurance claim. During the whole Camino we will be seeing small seal colonies.

These are the Cape fur seal and according to the Ministry of fisheries the population stands at 1,6 million. During the whole Camino we will see black backed jackal but always keep your eyes out for the elusive brown hyena.

Day 3

For me the highlight of the Camino as we walk the Langewand. This is where the tall Namib desert dunes meets the ocean. It is only possible to walk this stretch during low tide. The support vehicles may have to drive around so there will be a time limit to walk the distance.

Day 4

We walk conception bay. Conception bay is open to the Atlantic so does not provide any anchorage. It has a lagoon at the bottom and the SS Cawdor Castle ran aground here is 1926, The wreck was open to the ocean and was totally broken up in 2 months.

Legend also has it that in the 1920’s a ship sank in this area with 100 cases of whiskey onboard. Bring your swimming costume.

Day 5

The last day of our Camino and we see the end point. We walk along the beach and revel in this natural world. Our Camino ends at the Eduard Bohlin shipwreck. The Eduard Bohlin was owned by the Woermann line and ran aground in 1909 during dense fog on its way from Swakopmund to Table Bay. It now lies a few hundred meters from the Ocean.

Here we enjoy a glass of sparkling wine to celebrate your achievement. Lunch is served and we then head back convoy style to Walvis Bay for drop off at your hotel.