The initial plan for today was for a fairly chilled out day seeing the seals at Cape Cross in the morning, before making the easy drive up the Skeleton Coast looking at shipwrecks, however in the lodge we saw an option to make a large detour and head into the remote Messum Crater, which involved 90km of remote off road driving. After this we then tried to squeeze in an attempt to see some Desert Elephants near the Ugab gate, which we didn’t really have time for, but we were treated to a wonderful lunar landscape – in the absence of the elephants. It was very lucky that we added the other activities to the day, as the shipwrecks were somewhat of an anticlimax, with only one shipwreck really having any meat to its bones.
- Start: Cape Cross
- Destination: Torra Bay
- Distance: 162km
- Planned Duration: 2hours
- Actual Duration: 7.5 hours – we made a very large detour
- Animals Seen: Jackal, Cape Cormorant, Cape Fur Seal, Damara Tern, Springbok, Meerkat
Cape Cross Seals
Cape Cross is home to the largest colony of Cape Fur Seals which is up to approximately 100,000 seals during the breading season, which we are in now. The Cape Fur Seal isn’t actually a true seal at all as they are related to sea lions. Unlike seals they have ears and can walk on their hind flippers. As you step out of the car at Cape Cross you are hit by a pungent aroma, apparently 100,000 seals produce a distinctive aroma. As we arrived most of the seals were still up high above the water, and it really was quite a sight to behold.
Shortly after we got there it evidently became the time to go fishing, as almost all of the adults suddenly made a b-line for the water, which was quite an amazing spectacle. Down by the water there were so many seal pups, that they almost just looked like a sea of black rocks, quite amazing.
Messum Crater
After picking up our permit for the Messum Crater, we left the seal reserve and quickly left a road for the last time for almost 3.5 hours. The first part of the drive involved crossing very flat lichen fields, here we quickly felt very remote, and saw a Jackal, however here they are clearly not used to seeing humans, and he ran away as soon as he saw us.
As we drive further and further across the lichen fields the mountains slowly started to get closer, and soon we reached our first proper stop, to admire a very unusual plant, the Welwitschia Mirablis. It is a fascinating plant which is, apparently, unique as there is nothing else like it on the planet. From carbon dating it has been established that the average age if these plants is 500-600 years old, but some of the larger specimens are closer to 2000 years old. These plants only exist in certain areas of the Namib Desert and Angola.
Eventually we arrived at the crater rim, and I don’t think either of us really knew what to expect, but I think it is safe to say it is not what we experienced. It is a volcanic feature which is composed of rocks which are 135 million years old and the crater has a diameter of 13km, which until you are driving across it is really quite hard to comprehend.
Having arrived at the crater, we decided to take a detour to observe a salt pan, which is very lucky as on this route we saw some Meerkats and also some wonderful moss which was the most vibrant green and yellow I have ever seen on a plant – the colours really were as in the photos. As we were continuing our tour around the crater, we were caught in a rain shower, which was somewhat of a surprise having not seen rain for quite some time.
The drive out continued to be wonderful, taking in the scale of the crater, seeing some springbok and then some enormous Welwitschia Mirablis, I guess these are the ones that were around 1500-2000 years old. The final part of the drive out was down the “Messum Terrace”, which had some weird rock formations and plenty of strange squash type plants which must be fairly hardy.
Eventually we were back on a proper road having successfully completed out adventure, very happy that we had decided to do this.
Skeleton Coast
After our unplanned Messum Crater expedition we were back on track to head up the Skeleton Coast looking at shipwrecks, however we had a deadline of having to go through the Ugab Gate into the Skeleton Coast National Park by 15:00, as this is the last admission time, even if you are staying in the park. We went to see the Winston Shipwreck, however there really was not much to see, and as we were driving on some pretty soft sand, decided not to stop and risk getting stuck given the underwhelming amount of remains which were left.
After getting back on the main road, we decided to head north up the Ugab River (before the gate), to a spot where there is known to be a good chance of seeing Desert Elephants. We both knew this was unlikely as we had no time to wait at the destination and it is was the middle of the day, however we gave it a go anyway. It was a bit stressful as we had a turnaround time of 14:20, in order to make the gate, but when we left the road the satnav said that our arrival was 14:30. Thankfully the track was very good and we were able to make, very, good time up it and we arrived at around 14:10. As we expected there were no elephants, however the scenery was fantastic with, I assume, volcanic rock, making for a really lunar landscape due to all the sand from the desert.
On the way back we stopped, quickly, for a few photos, and after another fast drive back down to the road we arrived at the gate at 14:50, a bit closer than I would have liked but it all worked out in the end. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, we stopped off at the Benguela shipwreck, which was the only proper one we saw.
We arrived at the campsite at just after 17:00, due to having a number of other short stops en-route, and enjoyed a beer at the bar while the sunset.
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