Namibia Pictures
Skeleton Coast

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The far south of the Skeleton Coast at Cape Cross seal colony in south-west Africa.
Note the jackal hunting for baby seals. Click for more seal colony pictures.

At the south end of the Skeleton Coast and a couple of hours north of Swakopmund is the Cape Cross seal colony, a seething, smelly, screeching, barking, squabbling mass of between 100,000 and 200,000 seals. At a distance looking like a writhing mass of giant slugs and up close smelling like last week's dog vomit, the seals are, nevertheless socially fascinating and worth a trip if you like to see wildlife up close and personal.

The combination of cold Atlantic waters and hot Namib Desert make heavy sea mist stretching up to a few kilometres inland in this area a common event, especially mornings. Africa's Skeleton Coast generally does not offer a lot of sights apart from this seal colony - it's just incredibly bleak and sandy, with the occasional salt road to break the monotony.

There is a costly, pleasant hotel very near the colony but a day trip from Swakopmund is not too strenuous.

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