The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: June seventh, on Namibia's Skeleton Coast.

One of the Earth's oldest, driest, least explored deserts lines Africa's southeast Atlantic coast. Hundred-foot- high dunes tower over a landscape of jagged hills that rise like crocodile teeth. Ancient valleys run with rivers of white sand, instead of water that almost never flows. A desert preserve nearly as big as the state of Rhode Island, Namibia's Skeleton Coast Park beggars most of the usual travel cliches. There's nothing "tucked away" or "cozy" about its rugged mountains, amethyst-tinged dunes or ship-wreck strewn beaches.

Lying in the rain shadow of the African plateau, the area's primary moisture condenses from morning mists and dense fogs that boil occasionally off the ocean. Apart from ostrich, oryx, springbok and the rare desert cheetah, the region's primary large denizens are bands of desert elephants, who migrate among widely scattered water holes. Active micro-life, from dew beetles to chameleons, leave faint tracks in the sand. The nomadic Himbas, one of Africa's only remaining self-sufficient tribes, still eke an elementally simple life out of the Skeleton Coast, raising cattle around clusters of yurt-like dwellings, without the benefits of electricity, clocks or cell phones.

Recently, however, an outpost has been established in this emptiness for adventurous travelers looking for something other than the standard African safari. Skeleton Coast Camp, a tiny complex of plush tents, combines low-impact, relatively high-comfort desert living with the opportunity to explore a harsh but beautiful realm few outsiders have ever seen and lived to tell about.

Skeleton Coast Camp is profiled in this issue of the magazine National Geographic Traveler, a supporter of our program. You can register for a free sample on our homepage.

For information on Skeleton Coast Camp, contact Adventure Travel Desk, 800-552-0300 or www.african-safari.com

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