Chapters 6 & 7: Africa / Hippo Attack

written by Christopher L. Vaughn
Chapter 6

Tanzania, Africa
The sun easily warmed the surroundings of the Ngorongoro Crater as it crept above the landscape. A light hew of mist lifted over the damp grasses as the morning’s dew evaporated. Noises from the conservation area’s birds and animals emanated from every direction as if to announce the changing of the guard; the night dwellers returning to their shaded homes and the day animals coming to life. The sun’s yellow and orange light colored the trees and grasses with a golden color; a breath taking view to even the locals who grew up in the area.
The Ngorongoro Conservation area sits 228 feet above sea level and is the largest unbroken caldera in the world. The crater shares the conservation area with two neighboring volcanoes that remain active, the Oldonyo Lengai and the Olduvai Gorge. Not considered a National Park, the area is instead governed by the Tanzanian government and is considered a conservation authority. Among the largest population of mammalian predators, the crater is also home to some of the rarest of African animals including a small population of black rhinoceros. The crater its self had quickly became the most important location for the studies of human evolution after an excavation team discovered the earliest known specimen of modern man.
The conservation area’s archeology projects draw hundreds of scientists every year, including Professor Daniel McGromic, a thinly built man who often wore a shaggy white beard cut short. It was almost five years ago when he had arrived at the crater and began his study of early man, since then his team had uncovered hundreds of bones and artifacts, all dating to at least two million years old.
Carefully kneeling down onto a folded wool towel, Dan leaned in as he slowly brushed away the dirt from a bone protruding out of the ground. As he examined the artifact and delicately began to remove it from its resting place, a shadow hovered over him; Dan lifted the bone out of the ground and turned in the direction of the shadow to place it in a blue tub being held by a student volunteer. The enthusiastic student marveled at the specimen and held the tub so tight that his knuckles began to turn white; fearing what would happen if the tub was accidentally dropped. The student studied the bone for a few minutes before making a comment to his Professor. “Wow, she’s a beaut, think it’s a femur?” he asked with a thick Australian accent.
“It’s possible, Mickey, set it with the other artifacts and then give me a hand with marking the area.” Dan answered to the student volunteer whom was given the nick name of Mickey after wearing a Disney t-shirt with a large face shot of Mickey Mouse on his first day of the dig. Mickey, a young twenty four year old who was spending his summer break chasing dreams of finding lost history, spent most of his time asking questions about Dan’s past expeditions. Professor Daniel McGromic had literally traveled the world in search of ancient civilizations and had led several teams of archeologists during countless digs.
Mickey couldn’t get enough of Dan’s tales and would frequently ask so many questions that Dan would be come annoyed and send the student on small errands. Dan didn’t have the heart to tell the student to be quite and rather than hurt the student’s feelings, he’d keep him occupied. A short while later the student volunteer returned with several small red marker flags in his hand and knelt down next to Dan, then asked, “Professor McGromic, have you ever done a dig underwater?”
“Sure, lots of times.” Dan answered as he said to him self ‘great, here come the questions’.
“Really? Where? I’d like try that. I hear that there are a lot of things to look at near Greece, were you in Greece?”
“No, but I have dove there before. I was diving off the coast of Key West in America. We were researching a report of an underwater pyramid.”
Mickey’s eye grew large as he stared at his professor before asking, “An underwater pyramid, did you find it?”
“Nope, dove for three weeks where the survey team said they had seen the outline, nothing but a beautiful coral reef and colorful fish.”
“Man, that would have been something, an underwater pyramid, can you imagine? You’d have to be one lucky bloke to find something like that!”
“Yes, much more exciting that finding two million year old bones.” Dan chided.
“Hey professor, have you ever been inside a pyramid?”
Dan decided that he’d had his fill of the student’s questions and decided to send him on a little mission. He looked around him as if he had miss placed something very important and then turned to the student, “Mickey, can you go to my tent and get my glasses and my journal?”
“Sure thing mate,” answered the student as he stood up and started for the tent with a purposeful walk. Dan smiled a mischievous grin as he pulled his glasses out of his shirt pocket and put them on as the student walked away. It would be at least thirty minutes before the student gave up looking for the journal which was safely resting in Dan’s backpack, which was sitting on the table by the artifacts.

Alex Amado’s personal assistant had made his way into Tanzania after hearing that professor McGromic was leading an excavation in the crater. For a well know Professor of Archeology, he was a challenging person to locate, it wasn’t until another professor at Dan’s university had mentioned that he was in Africa that he knew where to look. In a seemingly never ending journey through several airports, he finally landed in a small twin engine plane on a dirt run way, then went into town.
Rafael Sernansa was a stout olive skinned man with a taste for adventure similar to that of Owen Ruger’s. Sernansa was born in Cuba and after serving in the Cuban army for 10 years he fled the island to South America in search of a better life. He found that life with Alex Amado when he was offered a job as Alex’s personal body guard. Sal-co had not only paid the Cuban well over what he was used to, but he found Alex to be easy to work for and he enjoyed his job. Still though, he was a little apprehensive about traveling halfway around the world to find Professor McGromic, but Sal-co paid him well to get the job done and Alex had told him to enjoy the trip and “see the sights.”
“Seeing the sights” had given Sernansa the idea of using a touring company to take him into the crater. It was cheaper than buying or renting his own vehicle and he’d get both a relaxing drive into the conservation area, and a tour guide to point out the wildlife that differed from that of the Amazon Jungle he had become a custom to. He stood waiting outside the touring company’s office with a small group of tourist, two couples in their 50’s and a middle aged man who appeared to be a photographer. Ten minutes later, a yellow and black extended Toyota Land Rover with the windows rolled down pulled up to the office and stopped, a dark skinned driver smiled with a bright white grin, then welcomed the customers in English thick with an African accent. “Hello my friends! Come, come, please take a seat.” Sernansa opened the back door for one of the couples and then sat in the front passenger seat. It didn’t take long for Sernansa to fall asleep, even with the gravel roads occasionally causing his head to bump the window.
He wasn’t sure how long he had slept when he felt the truck come to a stop and heard the excitement in the voices of the other passengers, but the commotion caused him to wake with a slight startle. Still trying to focus his eyes he looked the front window of the truck and saw several large wildebeests blocking the road, the tourists behind him were taking picture after picture and talking about the size of the animals when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Sernansa turned his head to his right and then jumped back away from the window in surprise; the large wet nose of a wildebeest stood less than an inch away from his window causing it to steam from the animal’s breath. The crowd in the truck began to laugh at the priceless moment and Sernansa soon too found himself laughing at the experience.
The rest of the trip to the base of the crater was filled with glances of Lions, Zebras, and even a few Elephants in the distance. Before the tour guide continued to the town of Arusha, he stopped near a large tree and set up a folding table and chairs for them to eat lunch. During lunch he found that the two couples talked among them selves and that the guide had slipped away to relieve himself; singled out, the photographer started up a conversation with Sernansa.
“I know why I’m out hear on my own, but what’s your story?” the photographer asked in a friendly manor.
“I’m on my way to visit a Professor of Archeology.” Saernansa answered with a little hesitancy.
“Professor McGromic?”
“Yes….how do you know of him?”
“I’ve stopped by his camp several times in the last five years while shooting pictures for National Geographic, in fact I was planning on stopping by after we stop in Arusha. I promised that I’d pick up a few things for his team the next time I visited.”
“Would you mind if I tagged along? I’m afraid that I do not know his exact location, it would be greatly appreciated.”
The American photographer nodded happily as he took a bite of his sandwich and then continued the conversation, “So I hear an interesting accent with you, Hispanic, but I can place it.”
“Cuban, I was born and raised in Cuba.” Sernansa answered now feeling at easy with how he was to contact the professor.
“Well, I wouldn’t believe it this morning if I was told I’d be breaking bread with a Cuban this afternoon, in Africa no less. But, I’ll be the first to say, it’s been a pleasure talking with you.”
“Thank you, but I left Cuba several years ago. I’m actually a citizen of Brazil; it’s a shame to see my country in such bad conditions.”
“I agree; I visited once for the magazine…..such history there.”
The group finished their lunches as the guide picked up the table and chairs, then stowed them on the truck’s rack. The bright yellow and black detailed Toyota was a favorite model for the majority of the safari companies in Africa. Its ruggedness and reliability was time proven, and the newer models also offered considerably more lush interiors. This particular Toyota was equipped with four large halogen lights on the top rack facing forward, two facing to the rear, one on each side, as well as two mounted on the front bumper. Along the driver side of the engine compartment was a large black intake snorkel raised above the top of the roof, and a well maintained winch sat between the lights on the front bumper.
After the guide ensured that everyone was accounted for and seated he shifted into first gear, sending the truck forward in mild lurch. The dirt road slowly became more pronounced as they approached the town of Arusha and the animal population seemed to thin out. In the distance the group could make out several huts and a busy scene of tourists and villagers occupying a good sized farmer’s market. As the guide found a parking spot near the market the American photographer tapped Sernansa on the shoulder to get his attention, “I apologize, I didn’t even think of getting you name at lunch, my name’s Chris Vaughn.”
“That’s okay; I forgot as well, Rafael Sernansa, my friends call me Ralf.” Sernansa answered as he reached behind himself and shook Chris’ hand.
“Stick with me at the market, I’ll give you the scoop and what’s worth your money and what’s not, then we’ll head to the professor’s camp.”
Sernansa gave the guide a hefty tip and then parted the group along with Chris, his new guide to the Gnorongoro Conservation area. As promised, Sernansa was shown the best products that were surprisingly cheap. He couldn’t help but buy a few things to take back to Salvador. A few minutes later Chris was standing in front of a table explaining what type of fruit they were looking at when he heard a familiar voice call out to him, “G’day mate.”
“Mickey, how the hell are you?” answered Chris as he extended his hand to meet the hand of Professor McGromic’s student volunteer.
“Good, I figured you’d be back soon. But I didn’t think I’d run into you.”
“I…we, just got back a couple of hours ago. This is Ralf, he happens to be on his way to the camp as well. What brings you to the market?”
“The professor sent me to pick up some African maple syrup…..but I can seem to find any, the professor sure asks for some weird stuff sometimes. Hey, would you guys like a ride to the camp?”
“Yes, we’d like that very much. It beats riding the bed of a fruit truck.” Chris answered as they began to follow Mickey to his less luxurious Toyota Land Cruiser.
The drive from the town of Arusha to the interior of the crater was roughly 118 miles and took them almost 4 hours. Mickey’s younger age showed through his driving as he took bumps and turns a little faster than he should, the truck sliding on occasion and hitting potholes hard. Sernansa nervously watched the dirt road from the back seat while the student volunteer asked Chris question after question about his last journalism job in the country of Kenya. Sernansa began to wonder if the overly curious student was sent to the market in search of a fictitious African maple syrup to give the professor a break; it wouldn’t surprise him.
A total of 5 ½ hours had past since they left the farmer’s market in Arusha and Sernansa felt it, every muscle in his body ached from the constant jarring. At last the group could see a small camp with green army styled tents set up in a row. In the center of the camp stood a tarp roof that covered two tables, one that was crowded with colored tubs and the other bare for dining. About fifteen yards away from the camp Sernansa could make out a group of people working in what looked like a small construction site. Several of the workers sat on the ground hunched over and were brushing away the dirt; and others were walking about either pushing a full wheel barrel or carrying a bucket.
Mickey parked the truck behind the row of tents and the group stepped out of their seats, each stretching and twisting their backs to relieve the tension. Sernansa looked in the direction of the digging site and wondered which one was the professor. Everyone appeared to be in charge of their own section and no real supervisor could be made out. The student volunteer finished his stretching and motioned for them to follow him to the dig for an introduction.
“Professor McGromic, I couldn’t find that syrup for you. But, I did find a couple of your friends.” Mickey announced as they approached the site.
A thin man in dust covered clothing and a scraggly white beard looked up at the new visitors, and then gave a welcoming look toward Chris.
“Chris, welcome back to Tanzania. How was Kenya?” Dan asked as he got to his feet to properly greet the two guests.
“Not bad, I was covering a story on the China oil exploration contract and visiting the drilling sites. Glad to be back here in the wild though. This is Rafael Sernansa, he was on his way to see you and we happened to be on the same tour trip to Arusha.”
Dan turned and shook Sernansa’s hand with a puzzled look on his face. “I apologize but I don’t recognize you, have we met before?” he asked.
“No, I’m afraid not Professor McGromic. I’m here to ask for your help and to offer you a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
“Long ways out to give a sales pitch isn’t it? Sorry pal, I stopped going on wild goose chases a long time ago.”
“I can understand your reluctance professor. But, I assure you this is no wild goose chase as you call it. What you’d be looking for is already found. My employer is in need of an expert on ancient civilizations.”
“And where is this ‘found ancient civilization’ I’d be looking at?” Dan asked with sarcasm in his voice; Chris and Mickey looking at the Brazilian with odd expressions.
“South America.” Sernansa answered.
“Ha, not another search for Atlantis. Seems like every couple of years some richy rich knocks on my door with a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity that has already been found. Only it hasn’t, they’ve got some dumb map they bought at some far off auction and swear it’s the real deal.”
“Professor….I assure you, this is a real research opportunity. I don’t know if it’s Atlantis….don’t care, we just need your help understanding what we have.” Sernansa countered sternly as he pulled out an envelope full of pictures, “here is proof, pictures of the temple.”
Dan held the pictures and scanned each one, his face no longer showing emotion. Then he came to a picture of a large wall painting and stopped. Mickey and Chris could see the professor’s hands begin to shake as a visible smile came to his face. “Where is this?” he asked the Brazilian guest.
“Paraguay, at a place called the Baltazara Plateau.”
“What is it Professor? Do you know what it is?” Mickey asked with excitement.
“The missing temple of the keepers.” Dan answered still staring at the picture with a fixated look, Sernansa beaming ear to ear at seeing the professor was no long second guessing him.
“The what?” Chris asked as his journalism scenes kicked in.
“The missing temple of the keepers. Several years ago I attended an archeological conference in Germany held by an eccentric scholar named Hans Geuerbach. He was obsessed about Atlantis and insisted this temple existed because he possessed the diary of Hitler’s archeologist who found a scroll with this painting on it. The scroll dated back to the time the Great Library of Alexandria would have existed.”
“Wow!” exclaimed the volunteer student.
“So that’s Atlantis?” Chris asked with interest.
“No, Hans said that the temple of the keepers had the location of Atlantis in it…..as well as a huge trove of treasures that date before the Mayan, Inca, and even the Chachapoyas.”
“Who were the Cha-cha-poy-as?” Chris asked trying not to lyrically murder the name.
“It means Cloud Warriors; they were a civilization of lighter skin people who live high in the Andes. Ruins of over 400 buildings were found above 10,000 feet not to long ago, it’s believed that they originally came from the European continent.” Mickey answered enthusiastically before his professor could get a word out.
“I’m impressed Mickey! Very good.” Dan complemented his student.
“So, Professor McGromic. Are you interested in going? All expenses paid and my employer is prepared to donate to your research here afterwards.” Sernansa questioned with a smile.
“Do you mind if I tag along Dan?” Chris asked, almost begging.
“What about me? I can help you study Professor.” Mickey asked as he twitched with excitement.
Professor McGromic turned and looked at the hole in the ground and then let out a sigh, “Okay, I guess these bones have laid here for over 2 million years and they’ll be here when I get back. I think it would be a good idea for you to go Chris, a good photographer will be needed and National Geographic will make good of the story.”
“And me professor?” Mickey asked almost jumping.
“Yeah Mickey, you can go. But you’re keeping up on your studies. I’m not going to have you falling behind on your degree. We’ll leave in the morning and take a boat down the lake to the airfield were we can rent a charter to the nearest international airport.”


Chapter 7

Morning couldn’t arrive fast enough for Mickey; he had spent the night tossing and turning in bed with excitement. Being invited to tag along during the research of a lost temple was a dream come true, not to mention the fact that it may lead to the actual location of Atlantis. It was the type of thing you’d read about or see in the movies; only this time he’d be apart of the story.
Chris too was excited, but his experience from working with the National Geographic had given him control over it. He checked his equipment and started a journal for the story, making sure to start with the chance meeting of Sernansa and then the revealing of the temple’s pictures. Starting from the very beginning would help build the story and if by chance their adventure did lead to Atlantis, it would be an important part of history. Chris was dressed and ready by the time the sun began to rise, and he stepped outside of his tent to make a cup of coffee. Dan also exited his tent and joined Chris for coffee.
“Good morning professor.” Chris greeted as Dan approached.
“Morning, are you ready to head out?” Dan answered.
“Yeah, I travel light. Just a couple changes of clothes and my photo equipment.”
“We’ll leave after breakfast; I’ll have one of the volunteers drive us to Arusha. We can then hitch a ride to the lake and from there make our way to the airfield.”
“Sounds good, it looks like Mickey is up.” Chris said as he glanced in the direction of Mickey’s tent, and its door flap swung open. Sernansa emerged from his tent about the same time and joined the group for coffee.
Breakfast consisted of bacon, eggs, and some fresh fruit that Mickey had bought in Arusha the day before. After everyone had finished their meal; Mickey, Chris, and Sernansa loaded the truck while professor McGromic gave the remaining volunteers instructions on how to continue the excavation. About an hour later, the group had piled into the Toyota truck and had begun their drive to Arusha. Despite the mutual excitement that everyone was feeling, the trip to Arusha was quiet and the majority of the time had been spent looking out the windows of the Land Cruiser
It was just past 1:00pm when the group of four made it to the north end of the lake and loaded their canoes. Dan and Chris teamed up in a bright red canoe while Sernansa and Mickey paired up in a dark green canoe. According to Dan and Chris, the airfield would be a short five mile paddle down the lake and that taking to the water would shave hours off of the trip rather than driving to the nearest crossing point.
Lake Manyara is located south east of the crater and is home to over 350 species of birds, as well as numerous species of animals including large families of baboons, hippopotamus, and wildebeest. The lake’s shallow and majestic waters cover over 89 square miles and was once described by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest lake in Africa.”
The canoes glided through the water with ease as the men dipped their paddles into the lake. Without the sound of an engine echoing across the lake, the wildlife seemed to ignore their travels and went about their normal routines. Several alligators were basking along the shores and slowly swimming by with only their nostrils and eyes visible. Huge flocks of pink flamingos could be seen across the lake on the opposite shore which gave the shoreline a funny hue like cotton candy.
The group was enjoying the trip and taking in the sights when Mickey spoke up and suggested a quick race to a nearby rock, “I bet Sernansa and I can beat you two to that rock over there.”
“I see your student has a competitive streak.” Chris teased Dan as Mickey’s canoe began to nose closer to being even.
“I think someone has some pent up energy.” Dan mocked while looking at Mickey.
“Ha, bring it on old man,” chided Mickey, “what’s the matter? Afraid you can’t keep up?”
“Are you going to let your student talk to you like that?” Chris asked as he purposely splashed the side of Mickey and Sernansa’s canoe.
“I think it’s time for a little physics class Mickey. As you’ll soon find out, for every action there’s a reaction. Action: us winning….reaction: you losing.” Professor McGromic called to the challenge as their canoe shot forward in a few powerful strokes.
The front ends of the canoes began to rise out of the water as both teams pushed themselves faster. Paddles dipped deep into the water, and the men made faces of determination as they strained to stay in the lead. In a bee line to the rock the canoes streaked across the water at a lighting pace, each one taking a tern with their nose in front. Red canoe in the lead, green canoe in the lead, red canoe…
Then it happened. As if struck by the torpedo of a WWII German U-boat, the red canoe holding Dan and Chris violently shot out of the water. Dan and Chris flew out of the canoe and landed in the water hard, the canoe splintering in two. Instinctively they swam as fast as they could to the shore as waves of water engulfed them. Dan’s knee hit ground and he stood to sprint to dry land, Chris followed just behind. But, as Chris’ knee also touched ground, the massive head of a rouge hippo emerged from the water behind him and latched on to his legs.
As the hippo lifted Chris out of the water by his legs, Mickey and Sernansa paddled to the scene and began slapping the water and the head of the hippo with their paddles. The hippo thrashed back and fourth whipping Chris like a rag doll; he screamed in pain and panic. Chris began to blackout as he felt the cold water hitting his head, then in a split second he was out of the water and looking down, having been thrown by the giant rouge hippo. With a violent landing, Chris floated face first in the water unconscious.
“Shit, Chris!” Mickey yelled as they paddled to his aid.
Dan watched in horror from the shoreline as he saw the distinctive shadow of the rouge hippo closing in on the green canoe. In a fatal mistake, the group had raced to what they thought was a rock; only to find out that they had inadvertently ventured deep into the territory of a rouge male hippo. Male hippos can weigh as much as 7,000 pounds and while they may appear docile in the water, they are ferociously protective of their territory and are responsible for more human deaths than lions and elephants throughout Africa.
Mickey and Sernansa reached Chris’ body, but as they leaned over the edge to grab him, a loud thump emanated from under the canoe. The green canoe rose out of the water and capsized, dumping Mickey and Sernansa into the lake. Dan yelled to them to swim to shore. Sernansa broke for the shore and swam for his life as the hippo barely missed grabbing his leg. Mickey panicked and swam to the capsized canoe and struggled to climb out of the water which drew the attention of the enraged hippo.
Dan ran into the water and grabbed Sernansa to help him get his footing as they heard Mickey screaming in panic. “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.”
“Swim Mickey, swim!” Dan pleaded.
“Swim to shore Mickey!” Sernansa yelled as he cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify the sound.
But it was too late, the rouge hippo raised its head out of the water and latched onto the canoe, pining Mickey in the process. Mickey screamed in agony as the lower right tooth of the hippo pierced his abdomen. The hippo dived bellow the water line and took Mickey with him. Dan and Sernansa stood in disbelief at the carnage that had just taken place. Red pieces of wood were floating among parts of the green canoe, and Chris’ lifeless body slowly drifted down shore as the waters calmed. Several minutes later, Mickey’s lifeless body floated to the surface, his skin pale and bloody, and his clothing tattered.
Professor McGromic and Sernansa never saw the rouge hippo again and despite the calm waters they didn’t dare risk swimming to retrieve the bodies. They sat on the shore for several hours staring at the lake silently before the sound of outboard motor caught their attention. Dan and Sernansa flagged down the boat full of tourists and requested there help in finding Chris and Mickey, but after hours of searching, neither one was located. The captain of the tour boat ferried them to the airfield and expressed his apologies, then continued down the lake.
“I’m sorry Mickey and Chris are gone, I liked them.” Sernansa offered a condolence, “If you wish to continue, I can arrange contacting their families and the appropriate authorities when I get back to Salvador.”
“Mickey would want me to continue, so would Chris.” Dan said as he nodded his head in sorrow.
“Then shall we rent a plane professor?”
“Yeah, but can you do me a favor? Make sure the pilot is okay with doing a pass over of the lake before heading to the airport. I’d like to do one last search.”
“Not a problem professor, I’ll arrange a flight.”