Last September Sharon and I had the opportunity to return for our second trip to Africa. Traveling with another couple, we spent several days at the Potato Bush Camp which is located in the Lower Zambezi National Park, in Zambia. One of the highlights of this camp was a canoe trip where we encountered a significant number of Hippos within a stone’s throw from our boats. We didn’t throw any stones!
We had excellent guides during our stay at this camp and a canoe trip was discussed as an option a few days in advance. The guides noticed that the water level in this section of the river had been dropping since we were still in the dry season, and it hadn’t rained for some time. The depth was low enough that there was some concern about the ability to make the trip without scrapping or getting stuck in the shallow stretches. After some deliberation, the decision was made to go for it. So, off we went.
There were four of us with one in each canoe and a guide at the stern of each boat. I was in the lead boat with George, the chief guide. Balancing my camera with a long telephoto lens, I was anxious to get photographs of the river animals from the water surface perspective. It wasn’t long before we saw different birds, some crocodiles at the shoreline and occasionally some elephants – and then there were the hippos! They seemed to be clustered in small family groups and many submerged up to eye level. Clearly aware of our presence, none ever approached our boats as we carefully paddled by. However, they were very attentive and a few sometimes raised up higher in the water as if to make a point that “this is our river -keep moving”. The images in this post were all taken from the canoe at essentially hippo-eye level. I did include one photo if two lounging young hippos which was taken in Botswana on a previous trip. I wanted to show the more laid -back aspect of these remarkable animals. This particular image of “smiling” hippos lounging in the water is one of my favorites.
We never felt like we were in danger during this excursion although our canoe did sometimes scrape the bottom to the point that George had to get out and push us off a sand bar. During this maneuver, he was wary of coming any closer to the hippos. Hippos are somewhat unpredictable and can be extremely dangerous when provoked. The only direction I remember from the guides was that if you fell out of the canoe – get to the shore as quickly as possible.
Getting this close to the hippos in their environment was an amazing experience. I will never forget it.
