There's a hippo outside our tent!

Jody, Grace (our preceptor) and I were camping on the shoreline of Lkae Mburu, the smallest National Park in Uganda. We had come for a 2 day, 1 night mini safari. We had already had a game drive and seen zebras, antelopes, impalas, Cape buffalo (mean nasty beasts that charge you if you get too close), monkeys and bush bucks. And oh yes, wart hogs. Think The Lion King and Pumba and you have it. So ugly they are cute, many needing a hairdressing appointment, warthogs. Hundreds. Loved them. We had also been on a boat trip and seen dozens of hippos and 2 five metre long crocodiles. We were wakened Sunday morning by an animal of some kind snorting, snuffling and booming outside of our tent. "That's a wart hog isn't it?" we asked each other. "Yeah" we agreed and drifted back to sleep. Minutes later Grace hollered "Get up, there are hippos!" Sure enough, a herd of young male hippos had been grazing around our tents and were currently in the water playing with each other. It is hard to describe what it is like watching giant beasts play with each other, but playing they were!

Tina