We had left the camp before seven that morning and it was about half past eleven as we finally approached that infamous Skeleton coast. We headed for the mouth of the Hoanib river. Once upon a time the Hoanib river was a constantly flowing river but now it is a most typical Namibian river – it very seldom has running water and it almost never reaches the Atlantic.
The flood in January this year was massive and it – almost – reached the ocean. Above you can see how close it came with only a few metres separating the flood from the Atlantic.
The sweet river water is very popular, for these cormorants and…
…for these (desert adapted?) Flamingos.
Gert and Hanna had as good a time in the water as they had in the dunes.
We continued driving to see this seal colony with at least hundreds…
…of seals and of sea birds.
Another drive took us to Möwe Bay, the administrative headquarters of the Skeleton Coast Park. Here you find park rangers, a small police station and a Skeleton Coast Museum that we visited.
It was now one o’clock and we were getting quite hungry when we came down to the sea, finding this set table with table cloth and wine glasses. What a lovely surprise!
Was I pleased!?
A few metres away was a ship wreck. I think this is the Suiderkus, a fishing trawler that ran onto the rocks here in December 1976 or January 1977.
It was equipped with modern navigation equipment but still ended up here. 
There is something fascinating about rust…
After lunch we drove to the airstrip of Möwe Bay waiting for…
…Bernd and the Cessna 210. While Gert had to drive the car back to camp we had the luxyry of this recap of our activities that morning. 
Flying over the “singing dunes” where Gert and Hanna did their jumping…
…the amazing green flood-plain…
…the area in the beginning of the floodplain where we had our Elephant encounter…
…the river bed we followed in the early morning…
…and then we were on base for landing. Driving to the coast took hours, flying back less than 15 minutes!
Home sweet home! Time for a nap and a swim in the pool! There is something special about this Wilderness life style…
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