Why Do I Love Hippos So Much?

My passion for hippos started at Lake Baringo in Kenya where we were cycle touring. Before that hippos were odd looking animals that I quite liked, but I'd never seen them other than in zoos or on the television. Lake Baringo is a fresh water lake in the Rift Valley in northern Kenya, and on its shores there was a campsite where we camped for a few days. I had seen the hippos on the lake, and elsewhere in Kenya, through my binoculars, but always at a distance. They can be extremely dangerous if threatened or frightened so you have to be careful when they're around. Hippos are herbivores, and at Baringo they would come out of the lake at night to graze the grass on the campsite, returning to the lake to rest during the day. The first thing you hear is their grunts. They are short-sighted and it is dark, so they communicate amongst themselves by low pitched noises. At first they were far away, one calling here, another one answering there, the calls coming closer and closer. Then there was one just outside the tent! Very carefully and slowly I undid the zip on the tent a little way to peep out. There was this enormous mowing machine about two metres from me! I watched by moonlight, fascinated, as it munched its way past the tent, calling softly to the others from time to time.

The following year we were again in the area, and had liked Lake Baringo so much that we went back again. It was not only the hippos but also the small crocodile we watched trying to eat a too-big fish, and the Goliath Heron that ate the half the crocodile couldn't manage. The Yellow Billed Storks prospecting the shallows, the sinister, ugly looking, Marabou Storks, and of course the colonies of weaver birds in the trees shading the campsite were all wonderful. A short walk away was the village where we ate "maharagwe", a delicious bean and corn stew, in a little shack that was the local restaurant.

This time we were in the company of another cyclist, Richard, who we had met on the way, and who we cycled with for a few days. We had seen a lot of hippos in the lakes and rivers of Uganda as we toured round, but again always at a distance. This particular year there was a drought in the Baringo region. The level of the lake had fallen and there was less grass on the campsite, forcing the hippos to come out earlier in the evening in order to find enough to eat. We were standing talking to Richard one evening as our six year old daughter slept in the nearby tent. The hippos came out of the lake and one of them slowly came nearer and nearer. We were careful to talk quietly, but loud enough for the hippo to know we were there so as not to suddenly frighten it. Our bikes were leaning either side of a tree, and on the luggage rack of mine was my thin cotton shirt - used to protect my arms from the sun whilst riding. The hippo munched its way up to the bikes, which were only a few metres from us, then raised its head to sniff my shirt. Not liking the smell (well who would after all day cycling in that heat!) it turned tail and munched away in the opposite direction.The magic of that moment has stayed with me ever since, and making hippos became something different.

Edit* Summer 2014:
I have recently heard from a safari operator that runs photo safaris in the region that the campsite and lodge next door are underwater after a steady rise in the water level of Lake Baringo over the last 10 years or so.