Yet that moment still stands out in my mind as the most spectacular display of power from a hippopotamus I have witnessed – for the sheer speed with which the two-tonne bull went from dozing to full-on gallop.Īs one of the largest land mammals in the world and distributed across most of sub-Saharan Africa’s waterways, the hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus amphibius) probably needs little in the way of introduction. I have had many other hippopotamus sightings, which have been more interesting or even more dangerous than the sunscreen incident (we were, after all, in a car and able to move away). That night, the heat broke, the heavens opened, and summer rolled in on thick cumulus clouds. To say I was decidedly rattled, deeply regretful and suitably chastened would be an understatement. I suspect, had he been able to talk, he would have muttered some very unflattering words. The bull pulled up short and shot me a rightfully affronted look. I had a brief but unfortunate view of the back of his throat before I hurtled backwards up a steep slope. In the time it took me to start the car and throw it into reverse, he had covered the significant distance between us and was almost level with my door. With a sound akin to the unblocking of the world’s largest toilet, the bull extracted himself from the mud wallow and launched himself at us, mouth agape and enormous tusks front and centre. Without thinking, I depressed the nozzle, and all hell broke loose…
And so, I pulled out a spray-on sunscreen.
#Hipo potamus Patch#
It was blazing hot, and there was not a single patch of shade. We sat for a while, contemplating the harshness of nature before I did something unfortunate. But he could have been dead for all the movement he showed – only the slight twitches of his ears gave him away as he snoozed.
I parked the safari vehicle at a comfortable distance, observing his body language for any signs of upset, as hippos are understandably grumpy at the height of the dry season.
#Hipo potamus cracked#
We had come across a solitary bull hippopotamus, squeezed into a tiny patch of remaining mud, the skin on his back cracked and dry. It was just before the arrival of the rains in the South African Lowveld, when the heat seems relentless.
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