Hippo Sighting

This actually happened in April.  I guess I forgot, or maybe I was working on getting other things posted (long process sometimes).  Still cool!

Living at Riverside Camp, I had heard stories of a hippo that was sometimes seen in the river.  (The camp really does sit alongside a river.)  "Yeah, right," I thought.  "This close to people and villages?"  I wrote the stories off as rumors told for the benefit of gullible newcomers, a legend for camp veterans to pass on, like seniors with freshmen.  Once we were in a classroom near the river, and Shona thought she heard something... "Maybe it's the hippo?"  Of course not, Shona.

Well.

May we never doubt Shona's instincts again, because it turns out there is indeed a hippo who meanders up and down the river during the rainy season when the river swells over its banks.  One evening André heard something while playing with Michaja at the playground... another student saw it... pretty soon a whole group of us was up on a huge rock overlooking the river.  Everyone was excited, pointing out the spots where the hippo had surfaced.

And me--I was bummed.  I hadn't gotten there soon enough.  So I decided to follow a trail that leaves the camp and runs along the river in hopes of seeing it as it continued its journey.  I knew of a place where you can sit high on the bank and command a good view of the river for quite a ways.  A couple others joined me, and we sat down to wait.

At one point I turned my head and discovered a sizeable spider in its web, not 18 inches from my face.  He was striking, so I amused myself by taking pictures of him while I waited.

To our joy and near unbelief, our vigil was rewarded!  We heard the hippo raise its head out of the water and give his distinctive snort.  He even humored us by picking a spot under the reeds along the opposite bank.  There he rested, submerged except for the top of his head.  In the picture you can see his light-colored nostrils and eye ridges.

Wow!  A wild hippo, wandering so near to where people live...!