Evening Evening Game Drive - Hippos and Elephants

As we left the comfort of our room once again and headed toward the lobby, the sweltering heat of Africa smacks you in the face every time. Those 15-20 minutes you spend with your guide, having a little dessert during tea (or a cocktail) can be agony as the sweat begins pouring from within.

By the time you walk to the truck, which invariably has been sitting in the sun, your shirt is soaked through and you begin the mantra, “Must have wind, must have wind, must have wind.” And then you start moving, and although the wind is hot, you’re moving, and starting to cool down a bit.

We got in the truck and set out among the softer light of the sun. We rounded the first bend and immediately saw the unicorn. Well that’s what they call it anyway, a one-antler impala. Poor guy – he’ll never mate again as impala lock horns for dominance and since he can’t lock horns, he can’t fight. And since he can’t fight, the ladies think he’s a wimp!

As we drove over the concrete road that also serves as part of a small dam for the N’wanetsi near the lodge, we noticed the hippos who live in the water there (and the ones we hear every night) we quite close. Alas, another truck had parked across the river and they were walking toward where the hippos were in the water, which meant we couldn’t (too many people).


So we continued on, seeing a great little striped baby zebra. Their stripes actually help regulate their temperature as the dark stripes absorb sunlight while the white ones reflect it. Their stripes are their fingerprints, with no two sets of stripes alike. I’m a regular Dierdre now myself, having been imparted with so much knowledge.

I think Dierdre felt bad about the hippos so she asked if we wanted to do another wildlife walk. We were all game, so she parked the truck and we headed on a 10 minute walk slightly downhill into the bush, with Dierdre leading the group single file, rifle in hand. At one point Dierdre gathered us around and told us to be quiet and stay grouped together because as we were going to roiund the next corner, we were going to encountered hippo in the water and they would be startled by us so we should have our cameras ready.

I don’t think any of us knew what to expect as we’d always only seen two, maybe three hippos together. Rounding the corner, cameras poised for the shot, we saw the thick pea soup water and then, there they were, over 30 hippos grouped together, like buoys floating on top the water.

A few of them splashed and then settled down once they got used to us. And then they just hung out, once in a while doing their yawn, opening their mouths wide as a warning to us. But they were content to stand on the bottom, their heads slightly above water, covered in weeds to keep them cool. Silly hippos. They’re doing their thing again – “If I have this seaweed on my head, maybe the won’t see me.”