Reporter's Notebook: On The Road With Bill Clinton

Africa is a vibrant place. It's full of color and energy. There's a smell that stays with you when you visit -- a mix of dust and smoke and sweat. I bought an African doll for my two-year-old daughter in Arusha, Tanzania, at an open market and it has that smell. You can't escape it.

The first thing you notice is how crowded Africa seems. And that's especially true when you show up with a former president of the United States.

For six days last month, I traveled through four countries in Africa with former President Bill Clinton. We started in South Africa, then traveled to Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania. We were the only television crew on the trip. The other journalists worked for monthly magazines or news wire services.

We journalists had our own plane. We paid for the seats of course -- but the plane itself is owned by a Vancouver, Canada billionaire. President Clinton had his own larger jumbo jet.

Traveling with Clinton is head-spinning. One day I'm meeting Nelson Mandela, the next day I am in a muddy field with a farmer. We're on this luxury jet, but when we drive through towns we witness unthinkable poverty.

And despite the jet, life on the road isn't always glamorous. In Malawi, we spent hours waiting on the tarmac when Bill Clinton's plane had technical problems. Some of my colleagues laid down on the pavement in the middle of the tarmac. There were very few planes coming and going at Chileka International Airport.

It was worth the wait. Eventually, we boarded the only helicopters available in all of Malawi and flew over gorgeous undeveloped countryside. When we landed we saw crowds of thousands. The people who live in this part of rural Malawi have very little. But they literally walked for miles from their homes and waited in the hot sun just in the hopes of meeting Bill Clinton. The whole time we were stuck on that tarmac they were waiting patiently.

Most of them never even got to shake his hand. But it was enough just to catch a glimpse of Clinton's stark white hair.