If the Skeleton Coast sounds unwelcoming, it’s true. People don’t really belong here. I’d leapt continents, four-wheeled over washboard roads, hired bush planes — harnessing all I could of civilization’s might — only to arrive in an area that made me feel insignificant and helpless. Sometimes we need such a kick to the hubris to be reminded of the planet’s true balance of power. Witness the iron- and steel-hulled ships, subsumed by sand, crumbling into rusty flakes. Humans often believe we can bend the world to our will, that our reign will be permanent. The Skeleton Coast offers a simple and powerful rebuttal.