Goree Island, Senegal. The round structure, the House of Slaves, was the last stop in Africa for a lot of people forced into slavery and taken to America.

In 1997, I became a general’s aide, which involved a lot of travel to Africa. Here we are in Mauritania, reviewing the Mauritanian Camel Cavalry and ready to ride too.

Me, pretty much falling off the camel at the end of my ride. Got felt-up, too, but in the man’s defense, it was a Muslim country and they don’t have a lot of interaction with women. He probably thought they were handles.

Views and people along the Niger River, Mali.

I was always amazed by the quantity and variety of things women could carry on their heads. I saw a woman at a market wearing a beautiful dress and a fancy hat. When I got closer, though, I saw that the hat was actually a platter of carrots.

Meeting President Jammeh of The Gambia. In 1994, then-Captain Jammeh returned from a U.S. Army training course and promptly overthrew his government to establish himself as president. It was very challenging to get inside the Presidential palace on this visit. The decorations on my uniform set off the metal detector at the entry and the guards pulled my aside for a thorough wanding and pat-down. As they concentrated on that, the general’s lead security officer, a US Army Warrant Officer, caught my eye and grinned as he walked back and forth through the metal detector. It never went off, though he was armed. Instead, they were fully focused on me – the least dangerous person in the room.

Dogon dancers, Mali. Those stilts were really high.

Malian village, same region.

A market in Mopti, Mali.

A workshop in Tanzania.