07-1994-06-1994

Following San Onofre, I wound up in Palabora, South Africa via San Manuel, AZ, and the San Francisco Office. I was in the Office for about 3 months and then flew 23 hours to Johannesburg SA. then climb on a Russian-made airplane to Palabora SA. I was there working for Bechtel to help manage a contractor for Parabola Mining company for the construction of a ball mill used to mill Magnetite, Vermiculite Sulphuric acid, anode slimes, and nickel sulfate. I was there for about 3 months, working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. While I was working at the mine, I took a drive into the open-pit mine and was driving around when a security guard pulled me over and asked me to leave the area because any of the ore haulers wouldn't know he had run over a pickup truck because of their size. They were huge. If you get alongside one of them, you realize just how big they were. It was fun, but a little dangerous at the same time.

Once we were done, I traveled through Kruger National Park and spend the nights in the various camps along the way. I saw a lot of wildlife and broke all the Park rules along the way. You weren't supposed to get out of your car, but I did every chance I had. I must have done a good job because the contractor paid for me to stay in one of the nicer hotels in Johannesburg, SA. I ate in some of the nice restaurants in Johannesburg, SA. The trip through the park and the lodging in the hotel were one of the nicest trips that I have ever made during my career. It's too bad it was a quick job with a lot of working hours or Chris would have enjoyed the trip through the Kruger National Park.