Kenya, February 1980 –

We observed this eclipse along the coast of the Indian Ocean in the country of Kenya. It was a long eclipse, lasting over six minutes at our location in front of a luxury hotel. The journey to the eclipse was a long one involving a transatlantic flight, overnight stays in the London area (which included side trips to Stonehenge and the Greenwich Royal Observatory), a flight to Nairobi, then off into the bush in Range Rovers. The countryside was beautiful and people extremely friendly. Unlike my previous trip to Africa, we were in an area with a generous and diversified environment. Although we did see poor areas, most of the people seemed much better off than what we had seen on the western side of the continent. After a safari into the national parks looking at zebra, giraffe, wildebeest and other wild animals we eventually found ourselves at a posh German run resort along the coastline. The resort itself was quite large and sported multiple swimming pools (one nude only), a nude beach, several bars, a nice dining room, and warm tropical breezes. This place was different.

My roommate (Steve Beer) and I were assigned a room in what could best be described as some fraternity’s idea of the best place in the world to spend Spring Break. It was on the ground floor in front of the nude swimming pool that was full of Europeans escaping the cold and enjoying the sunshine. The view was not too bad out the window, but the room was the pits and the large insects and lizard sent me running back to the front desk to see if my room could be changed. As it worked out, Bob Little (one of the tour guides) agreed to take the room when I told him where it was (or more correctly, told him about the view). He gave up a very nice room with a balcony overlooking the Indian Ocean for one that overlooked overweight nude swimmers! I think we both liked our end of the trade although I’ve never asked him directly.

 This was to be the first time I would observe a total solar eclipse from solid land. There would be no ship rolling underneath to challenge the photography. And I had brought along one of the best telescopes in the world for the application, a Questar. It has a 3.5" aperture and with an SLR at prime focus, it is the equivalent of roughly a 1300mm, f/15 lens system. The image is inverted, as is common in most astronomical telescopes making it awkward for use as a terrestrial zoom lens.

 Experiencing an eclipse from land is very different than at sea, especially in the tropics where there is an abundance of wildlife. The darkness, sky colors, and temperature drops associated with a total solar eclipse confuse the animal kingdom. During totality we witnessed many birds flying in from sea as the sky darkened and then out again as it brightened. We heard animal and insect noises in the forests nearby that were from the evening time as these creatures began to react to the eclipse. The event was somewhat magical this time. This was nature’s response to the eclipse and I clearly remember getting goose bumps at the time - and not from the chill in the air.

 The view through the Questar was stunning. Using a wide-angle eyepiece, the entire disk was visible and the chromosphere was quite clear to view. I switched the telescope between the camera and the eyepiece (which required a change in focus for each switch) several times during the eclipse. Since this was a long eclipse (4 minutes), I took my time and tried to save film for the diamond ring this time! As seen by the picture above, I got it. That exposure was at 1/1000 of a second as the photosphere was emerging from behind the rim of the moon.

At the end of the eclipse, everyone cheered. Including many of the locals and hotel staff as well as a large party of Japanese eclipse chasers who had also booked accommodations at this fine resort. Afterwards we celebrated and within hours were plotting the next eclipse. A strange visitor to one of the tour leaders had lead to a most unique opportunity, an adventure surpassing this one in the jungles and plains of Africa. Next time we would head to the heart of Soviet Siberia.