December 1984

Greetings,

Christmas again?  The years seem to fly by now, one fading into another as we are one fourth finished with our fourth contract here in Africa.  It has been another good year for us, despite the ravages of incipient middle-age:  heaps of grey hair around the barber's chair (hey! Whose hair are you cutting anyway?) and even a few silver follicles peeking out of Sharon's golden locks.  But we can't complain since we can still do most of the things we want to do, including a slow game of tennis, a SCUBA dive here and there and huffing and puffing down the basketball court at school.

It's been a year of change for us too.  We got rid of our VW camper and our small Suzuki jeep and purchased a new, long wheel based Suzuki with a fiberglass top in the rear through which an observation trap door has been cut to allow us to peek through and see animals even more intimately.  It's a beautiful car, gets good mileage, has plenty of room for camping equipment, and speeds along quite nicely on the highways.  We've taken it on some fairly rough safaris -- to the Aberdare Mountains, for instance, where we traversed hill and dale in search of the nastiest lions in Kenya. The Aberdares are an incongruous place in Kenya -- a series of lofty hills, some reaching 14,000 feet in altitude, covered with trees and surrounded by moorlands straight out of Scotland, yet also containing Cape buffalo, herds of elephants, and a couple of prides of transplanted lions who have made hiking in the area a rather dangerous pastime. A few months ago, a Danish woman was jumped and mauled horribly by one of the lions as she was walking to see one of the wonderful waterfalls which abound up there. Well, we were fortunate and didn't see any lions, but we did manage to taste of the cool, clean mountain air while checking out the trout choked streams and pristine landscape.

Subsequent to that safari, we took a Suzuki safari with two other couples and their jeeps to the Chyulu Hills, an area half way between Nairobi and the coast.  This time we camped down below and hiked up to the ridge of the hills through a rain forest hardly ever visited by man and on paths worn deep with the hooves of Cape buffalo, the most feared and unpredictable of all animals in Africa.  We hiked in the shade of giant trees with Tarzan vines hanging from them, searching for more birds to add to our checklist of identified species, but always with the knowledge that around that next bend might be lurking several thousand pounds of nasty-tempered horns.  Needless to say, we made it back with only a few scratches from the brambles and the mosquitoes.

Last summer we spent in the U.S., for a change, instead of going to school in Europe as we have done for the past five summers.  We visited the East Coast, using Ken's folks' Lavallette, NJ, house as a base and striking out for a trip from Maine to Florida.  We discovered the beautiful town of Castine on the Maine coast, a town steeped in history and charm, and managed to visit Sharon's brother, Dale, whom we haven't seen for years.  We also visited the Chesapeake Bay towns on the way to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to see Kitty Hawk and the lovely beaches of our soon to be adopted state.  Then we hopped down to Florida to check on the progress of an apartment that we purchased with Ken's parents, an apartment we will have the first opportunity to live in when we visit Florida again this Christmas season.  Finally, we returned to NJ via the mountains of North Carolina to visit Sharon's other brothers, Gene and Gary, and to tramp around our acreage in Otto, NC.  A very restful and refreshing summer.

In addition to the new car and new apartment, we have added a cat and a dog to the household.  The dog, only seven weeks old at this writing, is a white Siberian Samoyed puppy, looking more like a fluffy sheep than a dog and with the disposition of an angel.  The cat, in contrast, is jet black and sleek and finds life difficult as it gets constantly slobbered on by the puppy.

To make things even better, Ken will be occupying a new position at school next year -- that of the school's guidance counselor.  After 12 years in the classroom, it will be a welcome change of pace to deal with kids on an individual basis -- not to mention not having to plan lessons and correct papers.  An added bonus to the less demanding work load will be more money -- an interesting paradox and in keeping with this year of Orwell, 1984.

And as Cronkite used to say, "That's the way it is" this year, folks.  We'll be home for Christmas in NJ and Florida and will be going to school in the U.S. this summer, possibly in Colorado or North Carolina (or Florida, for that matter!).  We expect to remain in Kenya for another three years or so, barring unforeseen calamities or opportunities.  Do not hesitate to visit (planned well in advance, by the way) for Kenya is a never-to-be-forgotten feast for the senses and the spirit.

Merry Christmas and a Happy 1985!

February 1984

Dear friends and relatives,

As can be seen by the date, our 1983 Christmas newsletter is a bit late.  Well, happy Valentine's Day to you all.

This past year has been another good one for us, filled with adventures and gratifying experiences.  We are still in Africa, we are still working at ISK, and we are about to sign on for another 2 year tour, so those of you who have not taken the opportunity to visit -- well, there's still time.

Speaking of visitors, a year ago Ken's parents finally made the journey to Kenya after many years of coaxing and cajoling.  They were not disappointed as we took them on a month long safari all over the country, from the cold mountain scenery of the Aberdares, to the arid desert plains of the Northern Frontier District, to the tropical beaches of the Indian Ocean.  We all had such an exhilarating experience that they will be returning for another month this March!

Last April, we embarked on our most ambitious adventure yet -- a safari to the great Jade Sea (Lake Turkana), far in the north of Kenya.  To get there we assembled a caravan of 3 vehicles:  a Suzuki jeep, a Toyota Landcruiser, and our VW camper.  Together we traversed some of the most beautiful and forbidding terrain on earth, from the Colorado-like, fir covered Cherangany Hills, to the empty wastelands of the Great Rift Valley.  The road was as varied as the scenery, sometimes paved, other times consisting of neglected murram as corrugated as a washboard.  When we finally reached our destination, after 2 days of hard driving, we encountered the beautiful unspoiled lake and SAND -- endless oceans of soft, white, sink-up-to-your-wheel rims SAND.  And we got stuck!  Out of nowhere came the natives.  Hordes of gawking Turkana children, gaggles of old men with walking sticks and bones in their ears, scores of giggling, bare-breasted women -- all of them to watch the strange "wazungu" (whites) stuck in the sand, and to offer advice in a language that, needless to say, was totally incomprehensible to us.

Well, we made it, thanks to the Suzuki which pulled us out and onto a better path that was strewn with palm fronds.  When we reached the palms, we gunned the VW and kept the accelerator pressed to the floor until we arrived at the lake's shore and a more substantial surface.  Great fun -- especially since the temperature was only about 110 in the shade!

Space does not permit us to detail all the wonders we saw there, but suffice it to say that we encountered an entirely new world, peopled by a race of hardy nomads, eking out an existence in the most primitive, desolate, God-forsaken, desiccated piece of land one could imagine.  We feel privileged to have experienced such a thing -- before the McDonald's and condos are built overlooking the lake.

Ah, summertime.  One of the great benefits of teaching is the length of the summer break -- a time to get away, an opportunity to renew the old grey cells.  Last summer was no exception for us, but instead of attending school in Greece, we went to Mallorca for a program of study and relaxation -- with an emphasis on the latter.  We spent 6 glorious weeks on that Mediterranean island of contrasts and another week in mainland Spain, driving from Madrid to Toledo, Avila, and Segovia.  Mallorca certainly was a worthwhile experience.  We met many new friends, picked up 9 credits of education, and had ample time to tour the entire island.  The highlight of our stay was a weekend sail to Ibiza, another island in the Balearics.  We chartered a 48 ft. yacht, captained by an extremely competent and likeable Briton who treated us to a wonderful voyage.  At sea, we relaxed in the cockpit, listened to classical music over the stereo, and drank good Spanish wine with our sausages and cheese.  At night we gazed at the stars in the perfectly clear, unpolluted skies, then turned in to be awakened the next morning by the sound of the anchor chain being lowered in the harbor.  A tour on foot of the winding roads of Ibiza town, a gourmet lunch at a café, a sail to a secluded bay for swimming and snorkeling -- all these for a third of what it would have cost in the U.S.

Returning to Kenya in August, we made 2 changes in our situation.  We purchased a Suzuki jeep (the trip to Turkana convinced us!) to give us more scope to our adventuring, and we moved into a modern, 4 bedroom, rather luxurious house on 1/2 acre of landscaped gardens.  We then purchased an entire household of handcrafted Meru oak furnishings and appliances to meet our basic needs and hired a staff of three to take care of the place:  a houseman-cook, who is simply marvelous and keeps us in better shape than we could ourselves; a gardener, who grows us fresh veggies as well as maintaining the extensive shrubs and flowers that are planted all about; and a night watchman, to open our gate and give us a false sense of security!  So now we lead a life of comfort and decadence (?) usually reserved for the rich in America.  And we like it!!  Oh, what a shock to have to give it all up someday!

This past Christmas, we had our usual month off from school and took advantage of it to meet our great friends, the Graf's, for a skiing vacation in Utah.  We rented a condo on the slopes of Park City, skiing right out the door to the first lift, and spent a marvelous week with 45-50 degree temperatures and sunny, clear days.  After a hard day of gliding on the well groomed slopes, we would dash over to the Hot Tub Club for a leisurely soak while drinking wine and listening to music.  Then out to dinner and return for a relaxing evening of watching the fire burn in the fireplace.  Leaving Utah, we stopped in Vail, Colorado, to see Ken's brother who was spending a month there skiing (!), and then finished off our journey with a trip to Florida to relax with Ken's parents.  Almost forgot to mention that we began the trip with a week in New Jersey with Sharon's father, where we froze our tails off and which reminded us why we left NJ in the first place!

And that's the way it's been, folks.  We remain very contented, much in love with each other and life, and ready for another year of work, fun and adventure.  We intend to visit the U.S. again this summer and laze about in New Jersey from June to August. We are also thinking about a possible  trip to India next Christmas (?) and have quite a few other adventures lined up in subsequent years.

We miss you all and thank you for keeping in touch.  And we still like visitors so y'all come see us now, hear?

December 1982

Friends, relatives and family,

'Tis Christmas time again, the carols are ringing in our ears, and we are well into our fifth year in Kenya.  It has been a most eventful year for us, a year in which we managed to visit the U.S. twice, meet Vice-President Bush, explore one of the natural wonders of the world and circle the globe - all without a visit to bankruptcy court!

This time last year, we were winging our way to North Carolina to spend the holidays with Sharon's father in a rented cottage by a stream.  After a week of familial bliss, we moved on to Sun Valley, Idaho, for a week of skiing with some friends and were introduced to the cold crisp weather of the American West.  Then we completed our month long American safari, with a stay at Ken's folks' house in Florida.

In February, we had the good fortune to take a trip to Zimbabwe, that trouble-torn country in the throes of nation building.  It was there that we experienced one of the greatest thrills of our lives - the mighty Victoria Falls.  Imagine, if you will, a wall of water a mile long, cascading over a sheer precipice with a deafening roar and throwing up a cloud of spray which can be seen for 50 miles!  Awesome!

The school year finished quickly thereafter, and we were off on our great round-the-world journey.  We started in Egypt with a cruise on the Nile (an absolute must!), then went to summer school again in Greece where we learned how to program micro-computers, and then on to Amsterdam. A week in North Carolina with Ken's parents was followed by a marvelous stay in Seattle with friends, then a return to "home" - Hawaii.  From there we jetted to Micronesia, and dove Truk Lagoon, where the Imperial Japanese fleet was sunk.  Crawling inside the 400 ft. ships which have become beautiful coral gardens after 40 years below water was indeed an experience to remember.

We finished our journey with stops in a hot and sticky Hong Kong for shopping and then Singapore for a rest at Raffles Hotel.  During our trip, we were unsettled by the news of an attempted coup in Kenya, but when we returned, we found little changed except for a curfew and jittery nerves.  However, the image of Kenya as the African Continent's most stable paradise has been tainted forever.

Nevertheless, we continue to hang on here, finding more and more things to do and having fewer and fewer free moments to do them in.  Last month V.P. Bush visited our school to cheer us "expats" up a bit.  And we finally managed to convince Ken's parents that they wouldn't be eaten if they came here, and at this writing, we are anxiously awaiting their arrival for a month's stay.

And with that, we say "Until next year" and "Merry Christmas to all."

December 1981

Friends,

When we were young, our parents always told us that the years go by faster as one grows older. Of course, we thought that it was balderdash, but it's TRUE and, by George, now that we're in our 35th year (!), the time seems to literally fly by.  For example, it's incredible to us that we're into our 4th year here in Africa--and we still haven't seen everything or done the things we had planned to do 3 years ago.

Fortunately, we do get good vacations in education, and last year at this time, we made a 2 week trip to South Africa that was a real eye opener.  Visiting SA was once philosophically taboo for us, but now that we have lived in black Africa, we feel that we have a truer picture of the situation down South.  And frankly, it's one of the most beautiful countries in the world!  It's like the U.S. of 50 years ago, but with modern highways and conveniences. We drove for several thousand miles, saw quaint, neat towns, beautiful cities, beaches of a hundred miles in length with sand dunes 150 ft. high, gardens of tropical flowers, vast farms, unspoiled wilderness, and fantastic Cape Dutch architecture.  And truthfully, the Africans there have the highest standard of living on the whole continent, and we saw the beginnings of change that we hope will bring a complete end to apartheid.

Returning from such a mental high, we then went on a physical high by climbing Mt. Kenya, that 16,000 ft., snow covered behemoth which straddles the equator. It was the most grueling experience of our lives, something we are not likely to repeat (Basically, there are 2 kinds of fools in the world:  those who have never climbed Mt. Kenya and those who have climbed it twice!). Anyway, the scenery was majestic, the cold was biting, and the air was THIN--so thin that Sharon ran out of it totally only a few hundred ft. from the summit.

At Easter, we visited the Seychelles Islands for a week--expensive, but worth it with extraordinary French-influenced cuisine and gorgeous South Pacific-type lushness.  Really brought us back to Samoa.

Last summer was a return to Greece--our third year in a row--for another try at subsidized summer school, and then a couple of weeks in the U.K. where we marveled at the architectural splendor of Bath, toured the Cotswold country staying at small inns, and then luxuriated in the excitement of London, with its splendid theater and restaurants.

On the home front, we now have a VW camper which is just perfect for weekends in the country and game runs. We visit our country club from time to time for golf and squash, and attend the theater whenever we can. Plus we try to make it to the coast as often as possible for diving.  But this year is mostly characterized by work, work, WORK at school!  We're just involved in too many extra-curricular activities such as newspaper, yearbook, junior class advisors and Honor Society.  It's too much, so we have promised ourselves to cut down next semester.

We always end these newsletters with a bit of speculation about the future. Right now, we are seriously looking for jobs elsewhere and are most interested in the Middle and Far East.  If we can snag good offers, we'll leave--if not, we'll stay here for another 2 year contract and then return to the States (mainland!) to complete our educations.

All in all, we're basically happy and healthy of mind and body.  We are looking forward to hearing from as many of our friends, acquaintances and relatives as possible this year.  Merry Christmas to you all and may you have a splendid New Year.

December 1980

Jambo from Africa again,

As you can see, we renewed our contracts as expected and are now well into our third year in Nairobi.  If all goes as planned, we will be here next year as well, which will be a record for us...4 years in the same place!  But as always, our plans are subject to change without notice (just like the prices of everything!).

Last year at Christmas time we had a wonderful visit with family both in NJ and Florida, which made the holiday season very special for us.

At Easter, friends from Saudi Arabia came to visit us, and we had a frantic week on safari to Masai Mara game reserve, staying at a tented camp along a slow moving river, somewhere on the Kenyan side of the Serengeti plains.  The grasses were long from the spring rains, the game was plentiful, and the atmosphere was sheer Hemingway.

Then in the summer we headed back to Greece for another go at school and 5 weeks of unexcelled high living. With visiting friends, we took a cruise to Rhodes, Crete, Mykonos and Santorini, renting motorcycles, swimming in the cool waters of the Aegean Sea, trudging along cobblestoned streets, and sipping Greek wines at outdoor tavernas.  We also traveled up to Meteora in central Greece where we marveled at 12th century monasteries perched on impossible cliffs rising from the arid plains.  Quite breathtaking.

On the way to Greece, we stopped over for a few days in Egypt to see the pyramids. Very impressive and well worth the trip.  The Great Pyramid in Giza (across the Nile from Cairo) covers 14 acres of land.  What an awe inspiring experience it was to climb through a dark, dank tunnel right in the very heart of it.

After our sojourn in Egypt and Greece we flew to the good ole US of A and spent some time with our family in NJ.  While there we took a trip with Sharon's father through some of the most beautiful countryside we have ever seen anywhere in the world--western Virginia and North Carolina, along Skyline Drive and through Great Smokey Mountains National Park.  The views were absolutely breathtaking.  The reason for our trip was to scout out the area with a view toward buying a bit of land.  As it turned out, our mission was accomplished, and we purchased a 4 acre plot in Otto, NC--and adjoining Sharon's brother Gene's acreage. It's a great feeling to be landed gentry!!

We capped our summer off with a week in Paris, a first time for Sharon, and it proved to be a fitting end to a super summer.  We stayed on the Left Bank, ate our way through the bistros and cafes of the Saint Germaine-St. Michel area and drank of the Parisian summer atmosphere, despite incredible hordes of tourists.

Returning to Nairobi, we thrust ourselves headlong into our jobs again, with Sharon planning the expansion of her library and Ken teaching Spanish, English and Journalism.  We've gotten back into SCUBA diving here, and have accomplished and planned several trips to the coastal areas. At Christmas, we will go to South Africa for two weeks, will climb Mt. Kenya with porters and guides, and then finish off the month with a week at the coast in a rented cottage.

Life in Africa continues to be pleasant and eventful.  We have moved into a larger house and now have a full time servant again to take care of us.  Besides work, we enjoy the amenities of Nairobi with its excellent theater and restaurants. We have noticed that the prices are on the rise at a frantic pace, as in much of the world, and things that we could formerly enjoy have now become beyond our means. Hotels have gone up by 50% since we arrived, food is now more than in the States (although beef is still very, very reasonable), and gasoline prices are closing in on $3.00 per gallon.  One wonders where it will end.

We still feel that living abroad is the only way to go while one is young. It has its frustrations, of course, and the general incompetence of Third World functionaries in government and business can drive one up the wall:  Travel agents who can't read maps and have never traveled, telephones that never work, stores that are never open, etc...all make life...well...interesting.

That's it!  Merry Christmas to all and many a happy New Year to come!!

December 1979

Jambo sana,

Seasons greetings to all our friends and relatives.  As can be seen by the stamp, we are still in Nairobi--and loving it more than ever.  We have never found a more perfect climate, nor a place with more opportunities for adventure and enjoyment.

Our jobs at the International School are better than ever. After a normally shaky first year, we have entered into the life of the school this year with vigor:  Sharon is in charge of the yearbook, and Ken has the school newspaper as well as just having produced and directed "The Importance of Being Earnest" as the school play, a grueling but highly successful effort.

On the home front, we've moved from our country cottage of last year to a smaller, more conveniently located guest wing on an estate just outside town. We've sacked our servants and now live a more frugal, less ostentatiously colonial existence. Our daily routine is one of work, jogging, swimming at the school's pool, theater or dinner out at night at one of the many excellent and reasonable restaurants in town.

Adventuring, of course, is the reason for coming to Africa, and the past year has seen plenty of that.  The picture on our card was taken at Samburu Game Reserve in the Northern Frontier District.  It's a place of stark, raw beauty, with primitive tribesmen, rare game, dry plains, and a winding "African Queen" type-crocodile infested river. Camping there was a wild experience--frightening and exhilarating all at once.

In February, Sharon went back to NJ to visit her mother, who was terminally ill, as it turned out. Shortly after Sharon's return, her mother died--a sad blow indeed for all of us.

Later in the year, we went to the coast as chaperones on an East African History class trip. We visited Mombasa and its port with Arab dhows, then went north to the island of Lamu--a hideaway seemingly forgotten by time. To get there, we had to take a local bus, pull it across a river by hand, then push it through mud holes and streams.  Once on the island, we were treated to an Arab-like town with narrow streets, veiled women, exotic foods and smells, the cries of the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer.  We rode in Arab dhows to other islands, slogging through mangrove swamps on foot, and on the return trip, were abandoned by the bus 10 miles from any other inhabitants and had to walk for three and a half hours in the broiling sun with our luggage until rescued by a Land Rover.  Great adventure--now that it is over!!

Last summer, we spent 2 months in Europe.  Ken went to summer school in Athens, while Sharon loafed around and enjoyed the sights. We had a marvelous 5 weeks in Greece, exploring the Peloponnesus and were enthralled by the marvels of Greek architecture and civilization--especially the ruins at Delphi.

Then on to Italy where we stayed in Rome, rented a car and camped up the boot to Florence. Later we visited Venice, camping on a beach outside the city.  We crossed the border to Austria, were enchanted by Salzburg, the Tyrolean Alps, and finally made it to Switzerland.  The prices of food and lodging were, as expected, quite steep, but worth every penny as we walked through the wildflowers on hills near St. Moritz, or gorged on ice cream while gazing at the Matterhorn from Zermatt (where we spent our 11th anniversary) or strolled among the medieval buildings of Geneva.

Returning to Nairobi, we picked up friends from Hawaii and went on safari again, to the Ark (a luxury game viewing lodge in the mountains), then to Samburu again and finally to Masai Mara reserve where we witnessed one of the most spectacular sights on earth--the migration of the wildebeests on the Serengeti plain.  Endless lines of these hairy, bison-like creatures, as far as the eyes could see, walking slowly to an unknown call of the wild.

So, it's been a hell of a year for us.  This Christmas, we return to NJ and Florida for the holidays.  We may go to Egypt at Easter.  And we have 99 per cent decided to renew our contracts here for another 2 years which will mean a return trip to the States this summer. On the trip back here, we may stop in South America.  But, of course, if something better comes along, we will pack our things and go where adventure calls us. Until next time,

Best wishes and a Good Year!

December 1978

Jambo!!

Incredibly, another year has slipped by, and as usual, we're in another part of the world.  At this time last year, we were in Hawaii, with Sharon working for Hawaii Loa College and Ken going to school at the University. We didn't have as many visitors as we had expected, but Ken's folks did manage to come for a two month stay.  We did a bit of island hopping, as well as seeing all the Honolulu sights in depth.

In the Spring, we took a trip to Seattle and stayed in a luxurious mountain chalet with friends and had a week of glorious skiing.  The difference in climate convinced us that we needed a change after seven years in Polynesia, so we interviewed in San Francisco for jobs in Nairobi.  Then we returned to Hawaii, and Ken popped down to Samoa for a week of thesis research.  By the end of March, we knew that we were going to Africa. Ken then doubled his efforts and finished his second MA, in English as a Second Language.

In June, we sold all our furniture, threw out most of our clothes, and with four suitcases and a couple of packages sent air mail, we left Hawaii behind us for a new adventure.  We stopped in California for a tour of the wine country (hiccup!), and then spent a week in NJ with the folks.  Then, it was off to Africa, stopping in London, where we enjoyed the English atmosphere, the theater every night, and were appalled by the crowds and the weather.

On August 1, we arrived in Nairobi to take up our jobs at the International School of Kenya, Sharon being the librarian and Ken the Spanish teacher.  The school, set on 45 acres of coffee trees and hills, serves a population of students from over 30 countries.  The students are bright, interesting and well behaved, a welcome change from NJ and Samoa!

Living in Kenya is a delight for the adventuresome of spirit.  The climate is just about perfect--evenings cool enough for a fire and sleeping with a couple of blankets, yet days warm enough for short sleeves and a swim in the school's pool. We managed to secure a charming, quiet, 2 bedroomed cottage in the country, about 25 minutes from town.  We have an acre and a half of gardens and trees, tended by our full-time gardener, and the irksome chores of life, such as cooking, cleaning, doing the wash, etc., are taken care of by our houseman/cook.  Basically, we are being spoiled rotten for they do everything for us, from ironing our undies, to feeding the pets, to packing us a lunch, to washing the car, to shining our shoes. We think that returning to a "normal" life in the States will be unbearable.

Kenya has a surprising number of amenities to offer.  Within 1/2 hour of our house, there is a fantastic game park just loaded with wild animals of every variety. 500 meters down the road, we have a country Pub and French restaurant, which features the kind of quiet elegance and attentive service that has long since disappeared from America.  There is a first class professional theater in town, along with several amateur companies, lots of movie houses ($1.50 for tickets), excellent restaurants, a 17,000 ft. perpetually snow capped mountain, and lovely beaches at Mombasa and Malindi with diving and fishing.  All in all, it looks like a jolly good couple of years.

Theoretically, we should be here until June, 1980, but of course in Africa, it is not wise to plan too far ahead (although Kenya is by far the most stable country on the continent).  We'd like to climb Mts. Kenya and Kilimanjaro, see the pyramids in Egypt, perhaps see Greece and other parts of Europe (ski Switzerland?) before we leave this part of the world.  And as always, our house is open to visitors.

So, until next year, it's "Kwaheri" to you all and Merry Christmas with a Very Happy New Year.