Hippos!

Hippos…they are huge. When I visited Uganda my senior year of college, I got the opportunity to get to see some in the wild. They only thing I really remember about that experience was being told, “Hippo’s are huge, and one of the biggest killers in Africa”. Now hearing a thing like that would make the average person think, “Hippos..I should probably stay away from them, and never actually get into a dinky little boat and get as close as I possibly can to them”. Please take note of the “average person”, as we all know I am not average! At the resort the team stayed at there was just such an adventure to get into a boat and go “hunt” down said ferocious hippo..and course, Katie and I jumped at the opportunity!

Upon arriving at the boat dock, the “captain” informed us that we had two options. We could take the 1.5-hour tour by gas-powered engine, or the 3-hour tour by rowing. Of course upon hearing of a 3-hour tour, the theme music for Gilligan’s Island came into my head, and I looked at Katie and suggested we take the shorter trip. We climbed into the “gas powered boat” that was already full of water, and I said a quick prayer as we scooted away from the shore. Our captain was very entertaining and seemed to greatly enjoy talking about amazing swimmers from America. As I looked out towards the horizon, and noticed how close the water was to my body, I again prayed that we would not be linked in with those “amazing American swimmers”.

As the boat muddled along, we finally made it to the site of not only one hippo, but ten. They really were very fascinating to watch, and as the captain tried to scare us several times by moving the little boat closer and closer, we actually got to take some very cool pictures.

Thirty minutes later we returned to shore, not having to swim, but thankful that those “huge, ferocious creatures” let us observe their lives!