4 | theLAKER from the cover The Bullises’ relationship began with a College trip to the Everglades in 1978. They have journeyed together ever since. Jim ’78 and Kathy ’78, ’84 Bullis have traveled widely in 42 years of marriage – to Australia, Hawaii, the Caribbean, England, Scotland, Ireland and most of the U.S. No destination rivals the South African game reserve they explored through an FLCC travel course in summer 2024. Every day brought wonders: rhinoceroses, elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras and numerous antelopes. Not far from their camp, they heard lions making a kill, then spotted one the next day, casually chewing a hide. “Seeing an animal in the zoo is one thing. Seeing it in the wild is totally different. It doesn’t compare,” Jim says. “It was the best trip that we’ve ever been on,” Kathy agrees. Jim and Kathy seized the chance to join the 14-day FLCC Unique Ecological Communities course. They stayed in a bare-bones camp with daily outings. “My highlight overall was walking around on the ground, right in the wild, and the daily ‘dirt time’ spent learning to read and identify all the available signs of wildlife like tracks, scat and habitat changes,” he explains. Jim and Kathy traveled with a mixed group of 14 other students. Most were traditional-aged in their teens and 20s. Another alumnus joined the trip, as did a nursing instructor. Maura Sullivan and John Bateman, both conservation faculty, led the class. The tracking experts hired as guides impressed the couple daily with their encyclopedic knowledge of the reserve’s wildlife, from insects to elephants. The anticipation, the rigors of travel, and the striking views recalled another FLCC travel course 46 years earlier: the one where they met. LIFELONG TRAVELING COMPANIONS Kathy and Jim Bullis in 1978 at Community College of the Finger Lakes (CCFL) as it was known before the name was flipped in 1992. The couple in South Africa in summer 2024. Photos in this section are courtesy of Jim and Kathy Bullis and John Bateman.
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