Airship Expedition Tanzania

One of K. L. Busemeyers dreams was to fly an airship over the Serengeti in the footprints of father and son Grzimek, two famous German zoologists who, in 1958, used a single-engined aeroplane to survey the huge herds of wildebeests and zebras in Tanzania. Alan Root, legendary pioneering balloonist out in Kenya for more than three decades (made famous in Anthony Smith’s book Throw out two hands) was the main cameraman. The outcome was an Oscar-winning film and the best-selling-book, Serengeti Shall Not Die. Mucky’s idea was to recreate the old Grzimek project, flying at Grzimek’s locations and meeting up with their old comrades, but using an airship instead of a light aeroplane. The result this time would be a TV documentary. Here, then, is his remarkable story.