Today we hit the road for most of the day. It starts at dawn and we meet the team at the Engen fuel station on the Henties Bay road. Clearly this is a popular stop for all traffic going north. Besides having really helpful staff, they are well-versed at filling jerry cans, they sell big bags of wood that is perfect for the trip and the shop is well-stocked with items. They don’t only sell the usual cold drinks, sweets and chips, but also sandwiches, salads, cold meats, wraps and other items that are perfect for lunches.
Here we met the guides for the first time – Luciano and Marius (his Ovambo name is Daleni – he is fine with either). They fitted the two-way radios, explained how we will travel and answered our general questions. In bigger expeditions, there will be two guide cars, one bringing up the front and one the rear, but in our case we were only two cars (three with the guides) and so we followed the guide car.
The morning was extremely misty – we could hardly see the car in front of us but this is where the radios come in handy. Here and there the mist lifted, but just as soon it would envelop everything again. Our first stop was the town of Hentiesbay, which is well known amongst South African shore anglers for fishing. We had a quick stop at the Henties filling station and I filled up again despite the short distance travelled (around 70kms). When in doubt, fill up!
Leaving Henties there are several fishing spots along the way, and they have colourful names such as “Horing Bay, Rondeklip, Buurman se Gat, Popeye” and so on.
More information on Henties fishing is available on this document.
Exactly one marathon out of Henties Bay (42,2km), just past some salt works, there is a place next to the road where locals put some beautiful salt crystals on display. You are welcome to take some, and leave a tip in the honesty box.
A little further, we get to the skeleton of an old oil rig. It is a beautiful setting for photography. Large, rusted metal structures seem to be buried slowly under sand. The competition to the slow burial is rust, wind and erosion.
Only time will tell who wins the race. But for now, the rig is not ready to give up – it has been there since the late sixties, and still endures. Apparently the bank recalled their loan in 1972, and the rig was left abandoned. The pics below are clickable, and please have a look in the gallery for more.
Leaving the rig, we kept travelling north to the main entrance of the Skeleton Coast National Park. Here the guide will pay the fees applicable to your trip, but the driver of each vehicle is also required to complete a register.
They had some T-shirts for sale as well as stickers. The prices were reasonable considering the location. There is a small display area with samples of minerals, stones, photos of wildlife and so on.
Before proceeding, be sure to take a photo at the iconic gate!
From this point we proceeded to Terrace Bay. The road to get there is fine, with a few moderately difficult sections, and a very small river crossing (I guess it could get fuller during the rainy seasons, but it was negligible in our case).
We were told that we could potentially fill up with fuel at Terrace Bay (the briefing document describes it as the last fuel stop) – but there was no fuel to be seen. There is a small shop and a small liquor shop.
Apparently Terrace Bay was a favourite fishing spot of Sam Nujoma, Namibia’s first president. He had a very strong connection to the place and loved spending time there.
The end of day was drawing near, and we had to start finding a spot to camp for the evening. This was just a little further north, and perhaps 400m inland from the ocean. Here was a chance to relax, take in the beauty of our surroundings and to realise that this is something special: there are no people, no lights, nothing around but ourselves, the sand and a few nosy jackals.
Luciano and Marius were quick to inspect the jackals from a distance – it is not impossible for them to be rabid, but apparently their behaviour would be so erratic that it is easy to spot. I could photograph the jackals for hours on end, more photos in the gallery.
Whilst dinner was being prepared, we set up the tents and walked up the dune behind our camp to a spectacular view. During the night there was a tiny bit of rain, and the picture below was taken at sunrise the next morning.
Skeleton Coast 2025 #1: Introduction
Skeleton Coast 2025 #2: Getting there
Skeleton Coast 2025 #3: Swakopmund – old German charm
Skeleton Coast 2025 #4: Through the mist to somewhere north of Terrace Bay
Skeleton Coast 2025 #5: Up towards Angra Fria
Skeleton Coast 2025 #6: Across the dune belt and into Hartmansvallei
Skeleton Coast 2025 #7: Down to Purros and Sesfontein