Two things happened to me , the first was for some reason in elementary school we studied the history of Dr. David Livingstone in Africa. The bait was cast. Secondly, and I can't recall how it happened, I stumbled across the writings of Ron Thompson, I acquired a personalized copy of his book collection and the bait was taken, hook, line and sinker. Three trips to the Dark Continent and I am still fascinated by his writings and knowledge.