Carl Von Hoffman - Trek in Africa

Trek in Africa

During 1924, Carl was approached by a group of four businessmen from Detroit and invited to participate in an African trek from Cairo to Cape Town completely on foot, a distance of slightly over 7,000 miles, ultimately taking 11 months to complete. This was the longest trek in the history of exploration. The group, which consisted of a doctor, realtor, lawyer, and the inventor of the Packard 12-cylinder automobile, felt the need of a professional explorer, hence Carl's participation. The purpose of the trip was the sheer accomplishment of the act for all except Carl who wanted the films that such a trip could generate.

The group sailed from New York to England shortly before Christmas in 1924. Upon arrival in England, they separated with three of the group going to Paris. Carl and the doctor remained behind to secure medical information relative to protection from tropical diseases. They experienced much difficulty in reaching the doctor having the needed information, and had abandoned hope of making contact, when a last-minute call before leaving for the airport found him in his office. A forgotten Christmas gift had caused the doctor to return to his Office at the moment of their last telephone attempt. This contact caused them to cancel their air passage. The flight they cancelled caught fire in air and crashed en route with the loss of all aboard. This minor change in plans was unknown to the remainder of the group in Paris, who believing them lost, were cancelling plans to complete the expedition. Their arrival was quite a shock to the others the next morning.

The trek followed a relatively direct course with large numbers of porters engaged to move the supplies south. The porters carried only to their territorial borders. Fortunately, contacts with Colonial commissioners gave them the opportunity to have the needed manpower available at each border. Porters carried 50 pounds each on their heads and were paid in salt and calico cloth. As supplies diminished, less porters were required. While traveling in the areas having a heavy infestation of malaria, they traveled at night, as the mosquitoes and tsetse flies were not as active during this period. The only problem with this hiking technique was that while the insects slept, the leopard and lion became active.

It was not uncommon for a tribal commissioner to travel part of the distance with the safari as a show of good will. This gesture and lack of vigilance caused one commissioner to be badly mauled by a lion that pulled him from his horse and dragged him into the bush. (His head was held so tightly to the animal's body he could hear the lion's heart beat. ) The man's great strength enabled him to plunge a knife into the lion and kill it before being eaten. At that time, this was the only recorded case of man's survival in hand-to-hand combat with a lion.

A return visit to what was then Rhodesia provided the research data for Carl’s book ”Jungle Gods”, which was printed in several languages. The book follows the religious rites and customs of a single African tribe for a full year. It was during this period that Carl was able to spend much time with the native population and study in depth their way of life and rituals, probably never before witnessed by a white man. He is also author of "Jerry on Safari," a book for young people.