RE Jefe 4X4’s question of How Did You Get Here?
Our journey to TCing
Date: 1967
Location: Awash National Park, Ethiopia.
Participants: 5 – 3 men, 2 women
Prior camping experience: None
We were Peace Corps Volunteers on holiday break. We decided to rent a jeep, tent and other gear and drive the Dira Dawa road from Addis Ababa to the new Awash National Park. The park was like all the movies of E. Africa – Acacia trees, scrub, grass and wildlife. We spotted tiny Did-dik, gazelles, cattle, wildebeest, and more. We heard big cats in the evening but didn’t see any.
Once in the park, we set up our tent in a small grassy area near the Awash River and watched the hippo move about in the water nearby. Crocodiles basked downstream. We walked along the banks heading upstream toward the waterfalls. It was late afternoon; the baboons on the rocks above were yelling at us to go away so they could come down and get a drink before dark.
We had managed to set up the tent – canvas stretched over a ridgepole with ropes and stakes. We packed ourselves in all in a row with Mary at the back, then me, Mike, Hank and Jon at the front. We drifted off to sleep.
Suddenly, the tent twanged and vibrated. Jon started whispering urgently to Hank, “Hand me my camera! Hand me my camera, the hippo is standing right in front of our tent.”
“NO! she'll get spooked and run over us.!”
“I want to get a picture of the hippo, he's standing right over me! Hand me my camera.”
“No, no no! We'll be killed or maimed”
Unaware of the cause of all the agitation in the front of the tent, I grumbled, “Hey, would you guys be quiet.” Mike added, “We’re trying to sleep.”
H & J (in disbelief!) “The hippo's here the hippo's here!”
Quiet, quiet, quiet…no more twanging sounds, consternated whispers or other impediments to sleep.
In the morning, we discovered the hippo’s parting gifts - a 3-foot high pile right in front of the tent, a broken tent rope and rather large tooth holes in the shirt I’d washed and hung to dry the night before.
We had a super-8 movie camera – remember those? I shot a lot of film some of which has survived the intervening years. I had it digitized but had no idea, and no way to find out, which reel of film was when. It is pretty degraded but it can be viewed. Start at 16:00 and stop around 23:00. View at FULL SCREEN or the color won’t work. Corrected Movie Link
The time sequence for this trip is OK but the various episodes on the whole film are out of time order.
We returned home, life went on; we got a little red Datsun pickup with a Perris Valley shell on it – our first TC! First Camper
The B & W picture was taken in the Anza – Borrego Desert in late October, 1972. (Mike colorized the truck to match the red of our current truck.) I was pregnant with our daughter born in December. A year and a half later, we put a carpeted plywood floor over the wheel wells, tossed in some big floor pillows and drove across country and up and down the coast camping in the back of our truck.
Eventually, the truck died and we went back to tent-camping. Retired, we decided the time had come to roll up the tents and sleeping bags and return to TCing. We acquired our Bigfoot and the Big Red Beauty in late 2010. We continue to have camping adventures but so far none have topped our very first camping trip.
I hope you have enjoyed our story. Thanks to Hank for help remembering the dialogue.
Sherrie
Date: 1967
Location: Awash National Park, Ethiopia.
Participants: 5 – 3 men, 2 women
Prior camping experience: None
We were Peace Corps Volunteers on holiday break. We decided to rent a jeep, tent and other gear and drive the Dira Dawa road from Addis Ababa to the new Awash National Park. The park was like all the movies of E. Africa – Acacia trees, scrub, grass and wildlife. We spotted tiny Did-dik, gazelles, cattle, wildebeest, and more. We heard big cats in the evening but didn’t see any.
Once in the park, we set up our tent in a small grassy area near the Awash River and watched the hippo move about in the water nearby. Crocodiles basked downstream. We walked along the banks heading upstream toward the waterfalls. It was late afternoon; the baboons on the rocks above were yelling at us to go away so they could come down and get a drink before dark.
We had managed to set up the tent – canvas stretched over a ridgepole with ropes and stakes. We packed ourselves in all in a row with Mary at the back, then me, Mike, Hank and Jon at the front. We drifted off to sleep.
Suddenly, the tent twanged and vibrated. Jon started whispering urgently to Hank, “Hand me my camera! Hand me my camera, the hippo is standing right in front of our tent.”
“NO! she'll get spooked and run over us.!”
“I want to get a picture of the hippo, he's standing right over me! Hand me my camera.”
“No, no no! We'll be killed or maimed”
Unaware of the cause of all the agitation in the front of the tent, I grumbled, “Hey, would you guys be quiet.” Mike added, “We’re trying to sleep.”
H & J (in disbelief!) “The hippo's here the hippo's here!”
Quiet, quiet, quiet…no more twanging sounds, consternated whispers or other impediments to sleep.
In the morning, we discovered the hippo’s parting gifts - a 3-foot high pile right in front of the tent, a broken tent rope and rather large tooth holes in the shirt I’d washed and hung to dry the night before.
We had a super-8 movie camera – remember those? I shot a lot of film some of which has survived the intervening years. I had it digitized but had no idea, and no way to find out, which reel of film was when. It is pretty degraded but it can be viewed. Start at 16:00 and stop around 23:00. View at FULL SCREEN or the color won’t work. Corrected Movie Link
The time sequence for this trip is OK but the various episodes on the whole film are out of time order.
We returned home, life went on; we got a little red Datsun pickup with a Perris Valley shell on it – our first TC! First Camper
The B & W picture was taken in the Anza – Borrego Desert in late October, 1972. (Mike colorized the truck to match the red of our current truck.) I was pregnant with our daughter born in December. A year and a half later, we put a carpeted plywood floor over the wheel wells, tossed in some big floor pillows and drove across country and up and down the coast camping in the back of our truck.
Eventually, the truck died and we went back to tent-camping. Retired, we decided the time had come to roll up the tents and sleeping bags and return to TCing. We acquired our Bigfoot and the Big Red Beauty in late 2010. We continue to have camping adventures but so far none have topped our very first camping trip.
I hope you have enjoyed our story. Thanks to Hank for help remembering the dialogue.
Sherrie
.
