Follow the the dramatic coastline aptly named the ‘Gates to Hell’ by Portuguese sailors.

The Skeleton Coast. More a mirage than real life, there’s something completely different about the Skeleton Coast. This section of Namibia’s 1,570 kilometre coastline blows away preconceived notions of what Africa should be. Sand dunes tower a hundred meters behind the shore, and humans are few and far between.

Stretching 500 kilometres between the old German colonial town of Swakopmund and the Angolan border, the coast is virtually uninhabited and thoroughly untamed. It takes its name from the animal bones scattered across its endless strands, and the hundreds of ships that have been wrecked there over the centuries.

Here lions stalk seals and other maritime meals along dazzling white sands, elephants are sometimes seen wading into the waves, and sharks patrol the waters offshore. It’s likely you’ll come upon much much more – including leopards, cheetahs, caracal cats, oryx and springbok, neon-pink flamingos and hundreds of thousands of Cape fur seals.

Journey for a day as the explorers did along the ephemeral Hoanib River and follow the course of the Hoarusib River where dry plains give way to a clay-baked landscape. As the salty sea breeze approaches, so the landscape turns to white sand dunes.

The best way to experience this place ‘at the end of the world’ is in the hands of consummate professionals who have mastered the elements and succeeded in creating oases of pure luxury where each guest feels like the only one. We’ve designed a flying safari for the BLACK@ Guest from Sossusvlei along the Atlantic Coast and through the Hoanib Valley.