1976-77: Africa Pictures
Kenya
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Ken Klingman, Scott Wallace, and I one day decided to take a year's leave of absence from Hewlett-Packard and go to Africa. So with their wives and my girlfriend we flew off on Oct 8, 1976, first to London, and then on to Nairobi, Kenya. Africa!
I still remember my first wildlife sighting. I had purchased a used VW bus, and the six of us drove into Nairobi National Park on ots maiden voyage. With the Nairobi downtown buildings visible in the background, we turned a corner and OMG! right there on the side of the road was a beautiful impala! In the weeks that followed I would see many more impalas, and many other animal species - but that first sighting will be with me forever.
We came across a Disney film crew with the world's largest tame lion, and spent the day fondling the sweetie.
We never did figure out what kind of sea mammal this was.
On our first overnight outing, Ken and Vicki slept in the tent, while Nicole and I slept in the car. In the morning K & V reported that two lions had visited them during the night, walking around the tent, staring at them from the open front, and generally scaring the bejeezus out of them. They had decided they had seen enough of Africa, and made plans to return home ASAP.
Meanwhile, Scott found a job working with HP computers in Nairobi, so he and Bardie found an apartment and settled down for the rest of his leave of absence. Result: Nicole and I continued traveling in Africa, The Middle East, India, and on to Indonesia, finally returning to France in September of 1979, a total of about three years. So much for my one year leave of absence!
And for the record: here is a partial list of the national parks we visited in Kenya, Tanzania, and elsewhere in Africa (I believe the grand total is 22 parks): Nairobi National Park, Masai Mara, Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Mikumi, Rusha, Shimba Hills, Tsavo East, Tsavo West, Amboseli, Mt. Elgon, Saiwa Swamp, Samburu, Marsabit, Meru, Mt. Kenya, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Aberdare.
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