September 1971, met at the airport in Nairobi by Dave Williams, my PH, taken to Ker, Downey and Selby offices, introduced around (met Donald Ker), then off to the New Stanley Hotel. Next day, left for Tsavo National Park for several days of acclimatization, the picked up at the park by Dave and crew and off for five weeks in the bush. Unforgettable.

I had attended the Game Coin International convention in San Antonio with John Buhmiller and his wife, where I had met Dave and several other PH's. I signed up with Dave and he stopped off in Nashville on his way home and spent some time with us there. (He learned of the birth of his first child, his daughter Tana, over the phone from my house.)

By the time Dave picked me up at Tsavo, I was pretty familiar with most of the more common animals and their Swahili names, and I continued to work on my "Up Country Swahili" the whole time I was there, so that I was soon able to go on stalks with only my gun bearer, who spoke not a word of English.

The characters in the photo are, from left to right, me, Kuri Bhai (Dave's gun bearer), Kaoli (my gun bearer), and our guide, a native herdsman. The cheerful soul up front is Sabuni (soap!?), the tracker. Kaoli still looks a little subdued. He was standing behind me when the shooting stopped and the dust cleared, after a few exciting moments when the rhino charged.