How the Walleighs Found Purpose & Adventure

Rick & Wendy overlooking Lewa Downs' savannahBoomers Rick and Wendy Walleighs’ book details their inspiring move to Swaziland and then Nairobi, Kenya for a total of 18 months. These are documented on this website and in their book titled From Silicon Valley to Swaziland: How One Couple Found Purpose & Adventure in an Encore Career. It is available on Amazon, all online book retailers, and some Bay Area bookstores. Go to Media Coverage to see all the media featuring the Walleigh’ adventures.

ALL ROYALTIES ARE DONATED TO TECHNOSERVE, the international development organization for which the Walleighs worked, to continue its “Business Solutions to Poverty” in Africa and Latin America, so please buy this book for friends and family!

Meanwhile, enjoy the photos and descriptions of our many travels to nearly 60 countries on six continents.

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Swaziland Successes: Livingstone Protective Clothing Company

By the late 1990s Swaziland’s once-thriving textile sector had been reduced to mostly producing zippers and yarn due to the dominance of the Asian textile and clothing industry as well as the influx of high quality second-hand clothing into Africa.  However, as clever...
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Stormy Swaziland

Throughout our six months in Swaziland, many storms passed through.  Strong gale force winds hit central Swaziland on the night of August 2, 2006.   The damage was many fallen trees and power and water outages for several days in many places nearby.  A tree fell...
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April 26 to May 8, 2012 Botswana Experience

It is always challenging to coordinate two people flying from different places to then fly to a third, but imagine doing that in Africa! After a week of visiting and working in Nairobi with friends and colleagues from the TechnoServe Kenya office, Wendy flew to...
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Across NY through Hudson Valley–Breathtaking Colors Everywhere

The Walleighs’ 2013 road trip was with good friends with whom they had traveled in New Zealand.  In late September after traversing Quebec Province (go to Quebec or Montreal, etc.  for details on the Canada portion of this trip), they crossed the border into New York...
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Uganda: Typical Animals and Birds

Between working on TechnoServe Uganda projects, Rick and Wendy visited two national parks--Murchison Falls and Queen Elizabeth National Parks--and the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary and Wild Chimp Forest.  Landscapes of both parks, the Ngamba Chimp Sanctuary, and trekking...
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Uganda: Ngamba Island Chimp Sanctuary

With their son, daughter and friends the Hubers, Wendy and Rick took a 1.5 hour boat ride on Lake Victoria from near Entebbe to reach Ngamba Island Chimp Sanctuary.  Almost as soon as their luggage hit the tent floor*, they were off to view chimps from the platforms...
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Swaziland Successes: JA Swaziland from TechnoServe Youth Program

In 2006 while living in Swaziland, Wendy and a TechnoServe colleague established a School Age Youth Entrepreneuship (SAYE) Program that was to encourage Swazi young people to become entrepreneurs rather than depend on government or large companies for employment. ...
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Namibia: Etosha National Park & Desert Elephants in Doro !Nawas Conservancy

Etosha is Namibia's Largest National Park. From the Tsumkwe airstrip Rick, Wendy and Carolyn flew to the eastern entrance of Etosha National Park where they were met by Rosta who would be their guide and driver for the remainder of their  trip. Because it was the...
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Uganda: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to Trek Mountain Gorillas

One of the Walleighs’ three most memorable animal adventures in Uganda was trekking the Mountain Gorillas.  One of the national parks protecting the last 500 to 700 Mountain Gorillas in the world, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is only one kilometer from the border of the...
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2007 Walleigh Travel Journal: Living & Working in Nairobi + Traveling Eastern Africa

Dec. 3, 2007 - Still in Emotional & Physical Transit through December 5th Though we landed in California late on Nov. 18th and spent the night at 1050 Fremont, we left again 36 hours later on Nov. 20th morning.  We had been warned of culture shock when re-entering...
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Western New York in Autumn

Western New York in Autumn

by | Jan 14, 2014 |

The Walleighs’ 2013 road trip was with good friends with whom they had traveled in New Zealand.  In late September 2013 after traversing Quebec Province (go to Quebec or Montreal, etc.  for details on the Canada portion of this trip), they crossed the border into New...

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“If you are nearing the end of your business career and wondering what’s next, you’ll find Rick and Wendy’s experience both illuminating and inspiring.”
Debra Dunn

Consulting Associate Professor & Former Senior Vice President, Stanford University, Hewlett Packard

 “Rick and Wendy Walleigh are my down-to-earth heroes. At the end of Phase 1 of very successful careers–still healthy enough to spend their retirement days skiing, golfing, lunching, traveling in style–they chose instead to take their energy and considerable skills and apply them in some of the poorest communities in the world.
Bruce McNamer

President & CEO of The Community Foundation for the Nation's Capital Region (Washington DC) & former CEO of TechnoServe

“For those seeking an encore to their professional lives, Rick Walleigh’s account of the adventure he and his wife, Wendy, began is as energizing as it is useful. This remarkable book summarizes the factors they considered before volunteering in Africa to foster economic growth through small business development. More importantly, it records their experience with cultural change, new applications for honed skills, the nature of contemporary economic development work in the face of poverty, and the sights, smells, surprises and encounters found in living and working overseas. This is not a “how-to” book for those of us wanting renewal; it is an “I did this and so can you” story that is unique, thought-provoking and encouraging.”

 

Ron Boring

Former Executive Vice President, Vodafone-Japan