Hippo at Dusk
Going on a drive in the bush at dawn and at dusk increases your chances of finding animals and having good sightings, as it is during these times that the animals tend to be most active, when the temperature is just right. This proved to be true for my guests as we went on a drive at dusk one afternoon looking for the misconceived Hippopotamus. We found several animals active in the bush such as Zebra, Giraffe, Impala, Warthogs, Wildebeest, etc.. but we hadn't found the hippo yet.
We had passed several dams and not yet managed to find this big aquatic mammal that can weigh up to about 2 tons. At this point I had been asked several questions about the Hippo, and how it is conceived as perhaps the most dangerous animal in Africa.
It is indeed not the most dangerous, as that title would belong to the Anopheles Mosquito, because of the unfortunate fact that millions of people die every year due to malaria. However, the Hippo should still not be underestimated. The Hippo does not fall into the category of the "Big 5" even though it is big, as these animals (the Big 5) are the most dangerous animals to hunt. Whereas hunting a Hippo wouldn't be all that difficult, as they spend most of their time, during the day, submerged in the water hiding from the scorching sun. So the reason behind the misconception of the Hippo is due to the conflict of interest between humans and animals.
In various areas in Africa there are rural villages that don't always have the luxury of a washing machine, so during dusk they have to make their way to a local dam to wash their clothes or even themselves. It is often in these local dams that one can find a resident Hippo wondering in the water. At dusk, towards night time, these Hippos come out of the water to go and graze, as they are herbivores and feed on grass. The water is regarded as a safe haven for Hippos and they will often fall back to the water when exposed or threatened. They will also defend their water areas upon someone, or something entering it as a threat.
So the problem comes in when both of these are active at the same time for different reasons, and a person encounters a Hippo at dusk! The Hippo sees the person as a threat and needs to return to the water, but the person is in the way. So the Hippo will easily trample the person, as it is 2 tons running at about 37km/h. This is how there are so many people killed by Hippo every year. Don't get in the way of an animal and it's safe haven.
As I explained this on our safari, we came across quite a large dam, where there was a sort of miniature island in the middle. We saw something bubbling in the water.. and then we encountered a Hippo at Dusk! These interesting, somewhat historic creatures can hold their breaths for up to 6 minutes. That must be what they were doing to try and hide away from us. When they eventually came up, we spotted them and one of the Hippo made their way to the island and came out of the water, quite a distance from us.
He opened his mouth towards us showing us his teeth, as if to say "This is my place, don't even think about it!" We watched in awe as he opened his giant jaws. There was no threat to us, as the Hippo were all in their area of safety, and enjoying themselves, and we had no intention of threatening them, just viewing them. It is during this time that you realise how gentle they can be, just splashing about in the water.
It's amazing to hear the sounds and grunts that they make in communication with each other. We stayed for quite some time just enjoying the spectacle before moving on.
