Larry Newcomb

Africa: Hiking, Camping, and Prison Larry Newcomb

One prison, four jails, in three different countries no less, and four years later; having been kicked out from the last three countries I had visited; I found myself heading through Europe to the North Sea. The oil rigs beckoned. Nothing had been planned to end this way. How I got to this point, is the story. I went to Africa because I didn't know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was a recent college graduate taking advantage of my father's employment. He was a Captain with Pan American Airlines. I had had a job upon graduation with the help of Ken Olenik, who was one of my professors at Aurora College. My intentions were to travel to West Africa, visit a classmate who had joined the Peace Corps, then fly to South Africa. This story may encourage some readers to travel to remote locales, others may find the spiritual aspects curious, and the rest may be entertained and laugh with me. Again, this story relates the experiences of a na¿ve young man who matured to manhood with the help of people he met, along with the circumstances and events that he encountered. At that time, body counts of US soldiers in Vietnam were related each day on the news. The Peace Movement was well on its way, and Jane Fonda was visiting the enemy of the United States. My mother had dreams, my friends had astral visitations, and I had a visitation of my own while in prison. The time in history, places, people, and animals are what make this story interesting. Times have changed, but the escapades were real. Please enjoy, be encouraged to take the first step that may help to determine the rest of your life.