How to Travel to the Skeleton Coast, Namibia

The carcasses of more than a thousand wrecked ocean vessels, some of them exceedingly large, are littered up and down its coastline, protruding from the water or half-buried on the beach. The bleached bones of seals and whales lay scattered about. The ocean stretches all the way to the horizon to the west--with nothing but massive, dune-filled desert to the east. Must be Namibia's Skeleton Coast.

Instructions

1. Arrive in the capital city of Namibia, Windhoek. Economy, round-trip flights from New York to Windhoek typically cost between $1,800 and $2,500. A visa is not required for U.S. tourists visiting Namibia for less than 90 days.

2. Rent a car at the international airport in Windhoek. This can be done simply and easily right at the airport. An economy rental car will cost you between $30 and $40 per day.

3. Head west on the national highway marked C28. Drive for 100 miles, then grab a snack and gas up at the town of Karibib.

4. Continue west for another 100 miles until you arrive at Swakopmund, a quaint, still-very-German town situation on the coast, just north of Walvis Bay. Spend the night here (and sample the town's weinershnitzel while you're at it), then use Swakopmund as your springboard to the Skeleton Coast.

5. Drive north on the C34 (another national highway). This will take you directly up that once-feared coastline known as the Skeleton Coast. Don't miss out on Cape Cross (and its one million seals), and feel free to drive as far north as Mowe Bay, where the good road ends.

Tips & Warnings

• There are gas stations at regular intervals all along the route described here.

• Don't leave Windhoek without a fully gassed-up car, and consider carrying an extra container of gas in your back seat--just in case.