A good man, a very good man...
Patrick Ungugo, Safari Director for Micato Safaris, with Barbara and Lauren King at an airstrip in Tanzania, July, 2005
Last Friday when he was planning someone's safari to Tanzania, Michael King called the New York office of Micato Safaris, voted World's Best Tour Operator and Safari Outfitter 8 years in a row by readers of Travel + Leisure. Michael and Diana, one of Micato's top safari planners, discussed various options, each offering their opinions on which lodge would be the best fit for Michael's client. During this collaborative effort, Michael requested that Patrick Ungugo, Head of Micato's Safari Directors, escort his client on the safari. "After all, I want the best possible Safari Director and you can't get any better than Patrick," Michael declared.For a moment, Diana was silent, then cleared her throat. "Michael, I'm so sorry to tell you, Patrick died a few days ago...a massive stroke."
Michael was stunned, finished his conversation with Diana, and then shared the sad news with me. Michael and I first met Patrick in 2004 when the Kenya Tourism Board and Micato Safaris hosted a safari for a group of US travel advisors. Patrick was warm, friendly, and jovial, a walking field guide to all flora and fauna we saw! So, when we returned to Kenya with our children in 2005, we requested Patrick as our Safari Director. He was an expert in his craft, regaling us with stories, drawing both Josh and Lauren into conversations and away from their iPods. In October, 2010, we saw Patrick again, this time in his new position as the Head of the Micato Safari Directors. He helped orchestrate a very successful Virtuoso Chairman's Safari for top producers. When we approached him, Patrick remembered us and asked us how our kids are doing. Of course, we had to show him the latest photos on our phone of our kids with their kids and he gushed appropriately!
When I thought about what to say about Patrick, I thought of many anecdotes---his joke about the cheetah cub perched on the hood of the Land Rover next to ours, "You may drive Jaguars--here we drive Cheetahs", his loving description of the Masai people we visited, his leading the other Safari Directors in a joyous round of "Jambo, Jambo Bwana", a popular Kenyan folk song, last October---but Patrick was so much more than that. In addition to being a devoted husband, a loving father, a trusted and valued employee, a man who never knew a stranger, Patrick was a good man, truly a good man. And, after all is said and done, what finer tribute can be said than that? Thank you, Patrick, for gracing our lives and for sharing your love of Kenya with us. Rest in peace, dear friend, as we will always carry you in our hearts.
