Guide to the Globe : Irma Kackert became an adventurer later in life. Now she gives others tips on seeing the world.

In Saudi Arabia, I lived and camped at elevations up to 9,000 feet above sea level. When it became too cold or windy , the group left the beach and climbed mountains to set up camp. It was tough going. We did not have gloves or proper equipment. On occasion, we hiked an old camel trail from the desert at about 1,000 feet above sea level to the top of a very steep escarpment leveling at nearly 6,000 feet. We ended up crawling on our hands and knees to grab onto the rocks.

--Irma Kackert

The preceding account sounds more like a tale of Jules Verne’s intrepid globe-trotter Phileas Fogg than that of a local great-grandmother of four. But through her popular slide-presentation series, “Whizzing Around the World with Irma,” 75-year-old Irma Kackert of Thousand Oaks has been entertaining audiences and inspiring them to explore the world.

“I’ve had a very exciting later life,” said Kackert, who began to scuba dive and climb mountains at age 64. And she is not ready to retire yet.

As a certified water safety instructor in Illinois, Kackert began working with the disabled over 40 years ago. She is currently employed by the Conejo Valley Unified School District Adult School Division as a certified instructor of adaptive aquatic therapy.

“I teach hydrotherapy exercises. Most of my patients have arthritis or are post-stroke or post-surgical with replacement of hips or knees,” she said.

Kackert’s travel adventures began in 1980 after she accepted an offer to work in a new Saudi Arabian hospital built for the royal family and the military. Since her husband’s death four years earlier, Kackert had been employed at Los Robles Regional Medical Center as a medical transcriber.

“My boss at Los Robles said they’d hold my job and to go ahead--it sounded like fun,” she said. So at age 64 she went, intending to stay for five months and remaining for five years.

“I stayed because it was extremely interesting work. And I was doing good for people, especially patients who had been badly burned,” she said.

Initially, Kackert shared an apartment in the hospital complex with four other women before obtaining a private room. She adapted to a country where “no woman can go out alone or drive an automobile.”

While living in Saudi Arabia, Kackert learned to scuba dive using tanks and compressors borrowed from some westerners employed by an Italian-based company. They formed “The Red Sea Camel Divers Scuba Club,” complete with logo. The group averaged a dozen members and Kackert was the only female.

Kackert also joined “The Adventure Club,” consisting of up to 19 western men and women employed in Saudi Arabia. “We bought sponge mats in the Arab markets to sleep on. And gradually we accumulated gear,” she said. They went camping every weekend possible and took two trips lasting nine days each.

Kackert has visited more than 40 countries. But, she said, “the Saudi Arabian trip was the first time I had traveled alone so extensively.”

When pressed to name her favorite place, Kackert said, “Thailand, the Land of Smiles. The people are genuinely hospitable and the temples of Bangkok are magnificent.

“As a rule, I don’t take package tours, stay in big cities or hotels,” she said. “I visit the rural areas to see the people and the country.” And she shared some tips for women who travel alone.

Dress modestly, she advised. And never use a purse that swings from the shoulder.

“Always ask before taking a person’s photograph,” she warned. If you don’t speak the language, she said, smile and show the camera. But do not persist. Above all, if you encounter a tough situation, stay calm. “Don’t get excited and advertise that you are on your own.”

For about three years Home Savings of America has sponsored Kackert’s monthly series through the Conejo Recreation and Park District at the Goebel Senior Adult Center in Thousand Oaks. “I thoroughly enjoy traveling,” she said. “And when I come home, I love sharing my slides and artifacts with others.”

* FYI

Kackert’s next lecture at the Goebel Senior Center will highlight India. The free lecture will be held Nov. 15, 9:30-11 a.m. at the center, 1385 E. Janss Road in Thousand Oaks. For details, call (805) 497-1639.