We had been driving for four hours and had yet to see another soul. No people. No cars. Just eerie, lunar nothingness stretching south to the horizon. To the left, desert; to the right, ocean. A packed salt road sewed a tight seam between the two. Under an overcast sky, the three surfaces faded into a single indistinguishable gray-brown smear.

我們已經開了四個小時的車，一個人影也沒見著。沒人。沒車。只有一片向南延伸到地平線的詭異、微亮的空曠。左邊是荒漠，右邊是大海。一條壓實的鹽路，是兩者之間的一條細密的縫隙。在灰暗的天空下，三者的表面漸漸消失，化為一團難以分辨的灰褐色。

We were traveling along Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, a region often referred to as the end of the Earth.

我們正在納米比亞的骷髏海岸旅行，這裡被很多人稱為地球的盡頭。

Given the view through the dusty windshield, the title felt apt. The untamed Skeleton Coast begins at Namibia’s northern border with Angola and continues 300 miles south to the former German colonial town of Swakopmund, where strudel-filled bakeries and beer gardens still line the streets — and where, a century ago, thousands of Africans from two ethnic groups, the Herero and the Nama, were killed by German soldiers.

透過覆滿灰塵的前擋玻璃往外看，感覺這個稱呼是恰當的。未加修飾的骷髏海岸始於北部的納米比亞-安哥拉邊境，南下500公里，直至前德國殖民城鎮斯瓦科普蒙德，那裡的街邊至今仍有許多售賣果餡卷的麵包店和啤酒花園——一個世紀前，成千上萬的赫雷羅和納瑪族非洲人就是在這裡被德國士兵殺死。

The region contains a combination of cultures, landscapes and species unlike anywhere else on Earth, at times evoking a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

這是一個結合多種文化、地貌和物種的地區，在地球上找不到第二處，有時，它讓人覺得就像一片末日廢土。

My partner and I found ourselves driving the C34 highway along this stretch of remote, treacherous land midway through a three-week road trip across Namibia in early 2021. A year earlier, we had packed up our lives and left our home and jobs in Seattle with plans to travel around the world, only to be abruptly halted by the global shutdown mere weeks into our trip. In what turned out as perhaps one of the more unique pandemic experiences, we ended up locked down in our first destination, Portugal, for seven months.

2021年初，為期三週的納米比亞全境游進行到一半的時候，我和我的伴侶沿著這片偏遠、險惡的土地，行駛在C34高速公路上。一年前，我們開始了全新的生活，我們離開在西雅圖的家和工作，準備週遊世界，結果我們的旅程開始才幾週就被全球大封鎖突然截斷了，於是我們就在旅行的第一個目的地葡萄牙過了七個月的封鎖生活。

As things slowly opened back up in late 2020, we decided we could cautiously begin to revisit our original itinerary. Then came the task of answering a few key questions: Which countries were currently letting in U.S. citizens? (Very few.) Where did we feel safe going based on current Covid-19 case numbers, testing and masking requirements? (Even fewer.) And most importantly, where would we not be a burden on the country’s health care system if we did happen to get sick?

2020年底，一切開始慢慢重新開放，我們決定試試繼續原定的行程。然而這樣一來我們就需要回答幾個關鍵問題：哪些國家目前允許美國公民入境？（少之又少。）根據目前的新冠病例、檢測和口罩要求，去哪些地方會比較安全？（更少了。）尤其重要的是，萬一我們得病了，去哪裡才不會給那個國家的醫療系統造成負擔？

Namibia quickly rose to the top of the list. Among the least densely populated countries in the world, and a place where we could travel entirely independently, it seemed like a good choice. Little did we know how awe-struck we would be by its vast and varied landscapes.

納米比亞很快就升到了候選名單的第一位。這裡是世界上人口密度最低的國家之一，可以允許我們完全獨立地旅行，看上去是個不錯的選擇。然而我們沒想到的是，這裡的遼闊而多元的地貌會如此震撼人心。

I knew little about the country before we set our sights on it and immediately dug into researching its history and geography. The minute I learned about the Skeleton Coast, reading tales of shipwrecks, stark panoramas and 20th-century diamond rushes, I felt the pull of it. The wildness, the desolation, the inaccessible mystery of it all — it lit up my imagination, and I knew I had to experience and photograph it.

在將目光投向這個國家之前，我對它知之甚少，於是立即深入研究了它的歷史和地理。研究骷髏海岸的時候，我讀到關於沉船的故事，荒涼的風光和20世紀的鑽石開採，我感受到它的魅力。它的野性、荒蕪、它的神秘莫測——它啟發了我的想像力，我知道我一定要去體驗和拍攝一下。

The gates through which we entered Skeleton Coast National Park, near the Ugab River, were guarded by twin skull and crossbones and towering whale ribs. The objects served as a warning: “Abandon hope all ye who enter.”

我們進入烏加布河附近的骷髏海岸國家公園的大門，門口由兩個帶交叉腿骨的骷髏頭和高聳的鯨魚肋骨把守。這些東西彷彿一個警告：「所有進入者，請放棄一切希望。」

Before crossing into the 6,300-square-mile area of protected coastline, we were obliged to give our names and information — lest we didn’t make it out before nightfall — in exchange for a transit permit and a healthy dose of apprehension. We crossed our fingers and held our breath as we drove through the gates, praying that we wouldn’t blow a tire on the rented, tent-topped Toyota Hilux that had been our home in recent weeks, or get eaten by beach lions in the no man’s land ahead.

在進入1.6萬平方公里的受保護海岸線之前。我們必須提供自己的姓名和信息——這是為防萬一我們在夜幕降臨前無法離開——以換取過境許可證以及適當程度的憂慮。開車通過大門時，我們屏住呼吸，合起雙手，祈禱租來的豐田海拉克斯車不會爆胎，也祈禱我們不會在前方的無人地帶被海灘上的獅子吃掉。

This arid desert, which dead-ends into violent Atlantic swells, has caused many unfortunate sailors, ships, aircrafts and animals their untimely deaths. Their carcasses — rusting vessels, sun-bleached bones — are now visible reminders of the park’s hostile conditions. It is an inhospitable place where almost nothing grows, and where dangers, from wild rip curls to thick coastal fog, abound.

這片乾旱沙漠的盡頭延伸至波濤洶湧的大西洋海浪，許多水手、船隻、飛機和動物都不幸葬身於此。生鏽的船體、曬褪色的骨頭——它們的殘骸現在提醒著我們，這個公園的自然條件何其惡劣。這是一個無法居住的地方，寸草不生，從洶湧的離岸流到海岸濃霧，危險比比皆是。

Visitors are often drawn to the park’s shipwreck-dotted coastline. Though only a few are still visible, hundreds of vessels have met their fates along this span of shore and were slowly devoured by the elements. Some can only be reached by plane or four-wheel drive.

公園的海岸線上分布著零星的沉船殘骸，吸引著遊客。雖然只有少數幾艘仍然可見，但數百艘船隻在這片海岸上走到了盡頭，並被大自然慢慢吞噬。有些殘骸所在地只能通過飛機或四輪驅動車到達。

To the far north, traces of the Dunedin Star remain. The British Blue Star liner foundered ashore in 1942, stranding its 106 passengers and crew. A plane and a tugboat, including several of its crew members, were also lost during the rescue effort. To the south, the Eduard Bohlen cargo ship ran aground in 1909 and now can be seen from above, a quarter mile inland, as a ghostly ship surrounded by desert.

在遙遠的北部，但尼丁之星(Dunedin Star)的痕跡仍然存在。這艘英國藍星班輪於1942年在岸上擱淺，導致106名乘客和船員被困。一架飛機和一艘拖船以及幾名船員也在救援行動中失蹤。在南部，愛德華·博倫貨船於1909年擱淺，現在可以從內陸距離四分之一的地方向下看到，就像一艘被沙漠包圍的幽靈船。

We were able to see the remnants of the South West Seal, a vessel that crashed ashore in 1976, now just a scattering of wood and rusted metal peeking out of the sand, and the Zeila, a fishing trawler stranded in 2008 near Henties Bay, that remains a deteriorating but still largely intact and visible presence, now home to dozens of black cormorants, just offshore.

我們能夠看到1976年撞毀在岸上的「西南海豹」(South West Seal)的殘骸。它現在只剩一些從沙子裡露出來的木頭和生鏽的金屬殘片。還有2008年擱淺在亨蒂斯灣附近的拖網漁船「澤拉」(Zeila)，就在近海，它在逐漸被腐蝕，但輪廓可見且基本完好，現在是數十隻黑鸕鶿的家園。

The few man-made traces here are all in a state of decay: Road signs are faded and decomposing, an abandoned oil rig is little more than a pile of rust, eaten away by time, sand and sea air. I pulled over every few minutes to capture these details with my camera, stretching what should have been a six-hour journey into one that lasted 11 hours.

這裡為數不多的人造痕跡都處於衰敗狀態：路標褪色腐壞，廢棄的石油鑽井平台只不過是一堆被時間、沙子和海風侵蝕的銹鐵。我每隔幾分鐘就停下來用相機捕捉這些細節，將原本應該是六小時的旅程延長到了11個小時。

Along the road we passed by other oddities, including the Cape Cross Seal Reserve, home to over 200,000 foul-smelling fur seals, and the Walvis Bay Salt Works, where massive salt pans are colored bright pink by the presence of Dunaliella salina microorganisms. Matching flamingoes stalked prawns in the nearby wetlands. Makeshift tables lined the road north of Swakopmund; resting on them were dozens of light pink halite salt crystals, often accompanied by rusted money boxes, lying in wait for honest passers-by to leave a few bucks in exchange for a treasure.

沿著這條路，我們經過了其他奇景，包括十字角的海豹保護區，這裡有超過20萬隻散發臭味的海豹，還有沃爾維斯灣鹽廠，那裡的大型鹽田因杜氏鹽藻微生物的存在而呈現出亮粉色。同樣是粉色的火烈鳥在附近的濕地中覓食蝦子。斯瓦科普蒙德以北的道路兩旁排列著臨時桌子；上面放著幾十個淡粉色的石鹽晶體，通常附近還有一個生鏽的錢箱，等待誠實的路人留下幾塊錢來換取寶貝。

The barren landscape felt otherworldly, raw and powerful. Both exhilarating and terrifying. The coastline and colors slowly changed, the sand reddening, as we headed further south and entered the Namib-Naukluft National Park, home to the world’s oldest desert: the Namib.

貧瘠的土地給人一種異度世界的感覺，原始而強大。既刺激又恐怖。海岸線和顏色在緩慢改變，沙子變紅了，我們繼續往南走，進入納米比-諾克盧夫特國家公園，這裡是世界上最古老的沙漠——納米比沙漠的所在地。

Now the young country’s namesake (Namibia gained independence in 1990), the Namib has existed for at least 55 million years, its towering dunes plunging for eons into the churning sea.

納米比沙漠至少存在了5500萬年，與這個年輕的國家同名（納米比亞於1990年獲得獨立）。千萬年來，它高聳的沙丘沉入翻騰的大海。

The solitude and apartness we were chasing when we sought out this lonely part of the world — escaping from human-borne disease, yes, but also from the slog of our daily lives — awaited us in spades. Namibia made us feel small and insignificant in the best of ways — a perspective that I often crave in a world overwhelmed by instant gratification and never-ending battles for my attention. And in the end, the Skeleton Coast was a strange and beautiful reminder that we humans are powerless against time, and that in a war between man and nature, nature always wins.

當我們選擇了世界的這個孤寂之地時，它正以極大的孤獨和疏離等待我們。這是我們所追求的——是的，逃離人類傳播的疾病，但也逃離我們日常生活的艱辛。納米比亞以最好的方式讓我們感到渺小和微不足道——在一個充斥著即時滿足和不斷吸引我的注意力的世界中，我經常渴望這種感覺。最後，骷髏海岸是一個奇怪而美麗的提醒，我們人類在時間面前無能為力，在人與自然的戰爭中，勝利的永遠是自然。