Skeleton Coast

The Skeleton Coast of Namibia - an area once feared and shunned because of its treacherous coastline - is now prized as a place of beauty and tranquility, a place of magnificent solitude. Apart from the explorers, prospectors and miners drawn to the Skeleton Coast by its legendary mineral wealth, only small groups of people have visited this protected area in northwestern Namibia, and its mystery remains largely intact. It is undoubtedly high on the list of the world's most unusual, fascinating and scenically beautiful places. Through her captivating photographs and absorbing text, Amy Schoeman shares with the reader the strange beauties of her life's passion. The superb photographs capture the life of the desert, its forms and colors, and the moods of its ever-changing landscapes, while the text details the geology, climate, richly diverse plant and animal life, the pattern of its history - from the early Portuguese explorers to the many mining ventures of the previous century - and the proclamation of the area as a park in 1971.