WORLD SAFARI Continues...

World Safari III: The journey continues in the most exciting video yet. In the beginning, Alby is strapping himself into his glider. Next, he is soaring high above the cliffs and gorges of either Africa or New Zealand. The next shot is of a 3point landing in a field as Alby narrarates. He pays a visit to Michelle on the eastern coast of Africa. He had been thinking about her a lot, and was wondering if perhaps she would like to go traveling with him again. And hopefully, if the feelings are right, they could make being together a more permanant affair. She agrees. The first thing that they do is go to the races. Ostrich races! Alby falls off quite a bit, however, he has fun doing so. Alby has always been a nature lover and a real conservationalist at heart. And what better way to see African plains then to go up in a hot air balloon? Alby lets a little bit of air out  and they make for a crash landing; almost into the path of some angry rhinos. (Note that this was planned by Alby). Michelle didn't like this one bit, but Alby wasn't going to miss the opportunity to shot these majestic beasts on film. Michelle has always had a thing about superstition, so the two of them went to visit a Zulu witch doctor. Instead of terret cards or a crystal ball, the doc would shake a bag full of bones, stones, and shells, and when dumbed...would foresee the customer's future. Here is what the bones told Alby:

Alby and ol' Jack lazin' about. (Picture courtesy of World Safari Trading Post. And maybe purchased as well for 5 AUD or American dollar equivilant)

1)He would meet a man with the bite of the croc
2)He would confront fear many times before getting to his destination
3)A flood would wash the land
4)He would cross an ocean and see death in a dark place
5)He would fall from the sky like a stone
6)He would put a loved one in danger
7)He would meet a wise man that would change his life

He kinda got spooked by what the witch doctor had to say. Then, he decides to go out and face his fear. So, he swims in croc-infested waters. "I just went to confront my fears like the witch doctor had said. But the witch doctor said nothing at all bout' dying." After the experiences with the Zulus, Alby and Michelle met the famous bushmen (near the Kalahari). (Sometimes these bushmen would cover themselves with dung and crawl downwind from the elephants. Then, once right underneath them, they would stick them with a poisonous dart.) Then came a major flood! In that flood, Alby and Michelle saw some horrible things. The loss of homes, loved ones, and suffering animals.  With this...Alby remembered what the bushmen had said to him: "You can't fight nature. You can only learn to live with it. If we don't learn to live with nature...it will destroy us." Michelle had to return home because her brother was hurt in the flood. Alby, not wanting to leave Michelle behind, thought to himself and decided to leave Africa for another day...and he would visit New Zealand. So, Alby sent for his new dog, Jack, and they were off. Alby had wanted to go south, but they didn't let dogs on the train. This didn't stop Alby, because he just pretended that Jack was a seeing-eye-dog. And then, on another instance, Alby and Jack snuck onto a freight train, because Alby had always dreamed of hopping one like the hobos used to do. One night sleeping in the wilderness, Alby had this to say: "You have to learn to live with yourself before you start sharing your life with someone else. I am really thinking about Michelle, and missing her."

While thumbing for a ride, an old lady tells Alby of an old Cessna 337 push-pull twin engine airplane that she has in her barn. Alby couldn't wait to see it, and later agrees to fly it back to its' home in Australia. She even agreed that he could take the long way back to Australia. So, a little oil and TLC, and presto!...a flight-capable airplane!(It didn't start until its third try) After finding out that it ran alright, he rang Michelle and told her the news; and to meet him in New Zealand. He had a surprise for her.  Once they were together again, they are almost mowed down by a low flying helicopter. The pilot then takes them up to a mountain hotel so that Alby and Michelle can have a little "heart to heart." So, during a meal (possibly dinner), Alby proposes (shakey hands and all). She says  "yes." Later on, they are told of Marri Cave ("the cave of running water"), and this sounds very interesting to them. So, after flying for hours, they changed over to a seaplane for the final "hop." That was where Alby saw "death in a dark place." (They saw the skeletal remains of a native in the cave) The next trip was avisit to the Mangel's Manor, the home Alby was hoping to live in for god-knows-how-long. Needless to say, Michelle found the "hut" to be dark and unclean. She was really unhappy about the whole situation now. But there was ol'Alby saying "Well..I know it doesn't look like much, but just give it a couple of days. You'll grow to love it. I am sure of it." Michelle was sure that she wouldn't. So, while Alby was taking a bath, she wrote a good-bye letter and left Alby. This was an extremely sad moment for Alby (and to the viewers of WSIII), mainly because during her leaving, Alby was in the tub whistling the famous Wedding Song. Poor Alby! Anyway, Michelle goes back to Africa, and Alby decides to go to South Wales to help his friend Brain Fahey hitch up wild horses. Then, around that same time, Alby got the urge to start flying again; this time choppers. So, after 2 months of constant practice, Alby got his license. Then, along the Yourke Peninsula, Alby was coming in on downwind, and suddenly the chopper lost power, and Alby came "falling down out of the sky like a stone." So now Alby thought that it would be best to stick to the ground from now on. Next, he sets out and buys himself a Dodge for 50 bucks and hitches a camper to the back. He parks the new home on a cliffside and there he meets a lovely girl by the name of Lacinda. Then, the two go roo hunting with a friend named Doug Hart. Suddenly, Jack (Alby's dog) jumps out of the moving jeep and starts chasing the kangaroos. And while everyone is fixated on Jack, they hit a tree. Doug is out cold, Lacinda has a head injury, and Alby is just banged up. So, Alby sets off to get the Dodge and get them to a hospital. Sometime afterwards, Alby drives back to his trailer and finds that someone has pushed it over the cliff. Alby becomes very dishearted. Why would someone do this? To relieve himself of the anger, he and Jack take a walk. And a good thing too, because...

He finds a baby horse with a huge fly-blown and infected hole in its' neck. Alby suspects that the horse has less than 24 hours to live. So, he picks up the girl and carries it quite a few miles to the next farm. There, he laid the horse down, put some bacterial powder on the wound, and gave it some milk from its' mother. Alby stayed 2 weeks with the horse and then he just left it in the care of the vet. Hopefully it would survive. Out of the blue, Alby's nephew Rick came up, and wanted to go with him to Ayers Rock (on the camels that Alby bought not too long before). Once they got there, they took the telescope out and saw a girl camping on the next island. (That island was inhabited by a lot of seals as well). So, Alby said, "We had better look our best if we are going to meet her, ehh?" And the humorous Rick said, " You mean...for the seals, right?" " Alby was keen on those seals." So, they tried launching the zodiak (lifeboat), and Rick almost gets killed as the waves pound into Rick and the raft. That was a close call for ol' Rick (notice the doctors predictions-#6). Alby finally makes it over there by himself, and he finds that this girl's name is Tina Dalton, a worker for the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Next, they (Alby and Rick) hitch a ride on the Ghan (most popular train in Australia). One morning while camping (Alby and Rick still), they wake up and the camels are gone. Alby was supposed to go and check out this guys' helicopter; so he had to hitch a ride to get the Dodge (it was 1200 miles away...on the peninsula). Once he got back to the campsite, he left the Dodge with Rick and set out to look at the helicopter. Once he got the chopper up and flying, he used it to help find the camels. He directed Rick (in the Dodge) via the radio.Then, suddenly, the Dodge loses its' brakes and Rick has to bail out before the truck goes plummeting off a cliff. Another close call! The Dodge is Dead.

Before Alby could continue on his journey, he had to see how his baby horse was doing. And the results were fantastic. The horse was up and running, and Alby couldn't have been any happier. So, then he goes to his friend Paul Stranton's and swaps the chopper for his catamaran. He wanted to see Judy Green again. (Who would blame him? Rrrrr!) Then, after that, he sails (by himself) to Africa to meet up with his Michelle. He had to find that wise man that the witch doctor spoke of. So, in search for him, they crossed over the great Arav desert (name means "Land God made in Anger") and then down the Skeleton Coast. No jeeps were allowed, so they had to continue on camel. They traveled through the most desolate of deserts and then, to their horror, they wake up and find that the baby camel is missing. Alby looks over the next dune and sees the carcass, along with the lions and wild dogs that were having their way with it. Michelle was devastated! She had grown very fond of that young camel. After trekking through the desert they get to the Angola Border. They needed to be aware because there was quite a lot of fighting going on in that area. So, they came to the Himba tribe (tribe that has the wise man Alby was to see). His name is Veta Muna. Alby said " I could see the wisdom of this man just by looking at him." Then, one member of the tribe gets shot and Alby and Michelle have to leave. Their staying would have only made the situation worse for the Himbas. Suddenly, Alby and Michelle realized just how dangerous the situation was. They had to call in a rescue chopper to come and pick them up . A full-scale war had broken out and Alby and Michelle wanted no part. And as the chopper pulled away and Alby saw all of the scurrying animals, he ended by saying this: "As I looked at the animals, calmed by their simple majesty, I saw that there as a balance in nature. Good and Evil. Life and Death. But if the balance is lost; if there is a battle between man and nature, there can only ever be one loser. Good-bye folks!"

All videos narrated by Esben Storm

VARIOUS ALBY LINKS

MINISTRY O' ROB~ Your narrators Homepage
Corportate Lies Goes Adventure Bound~ Four guys (Cyp,Mike,Cherub,&Jam) as they experience the 1st of the annual Alby Mangel's Week.(Summer 98').
Robby & Shortbread's Alby Site~ Great sites on the Legendary Alby Mangels.
Alby Mangels Trading Post~ It's Alby's Official Homepage. And its where you can order any videos you want of him.
Rick Snel's Domain~ Alby's nephew, Rick, has his own website.
Alby Mangels Message Board~ Visit Anthon Novikov's website.  This page is geared primarily  to help Alby Mangels in his efforts to aid mountain gorillas.

Onward to "Whats New"