A Hippo Outside Our Tent

Camps in the Okavango Delta are near water--rivers, channels, ponds or lakes--that are home to hippos.  These animals spend the day in the water, mostly submerged, popping up their heads or only their eyes and nose to check out what is going on and grab some oxygen before ducking below the surface again.  This keeps them cool during the day.

But at night, the huge animals have to eat, so they lumber at rather surprising speeds out of the murky water and head for grass.  We were able to hear the hippos snorting at night, but for two  nights, we got to hear this grinding machine enjoying a lengthy meal right outside our tent door (we had a lovely deck with several steps that did not interest the hippo at all).

The sound was quite striking, much like I imagine comes from one of those machines that rips up cars.  It was a loud, grinding noise, with some violent claps from his jaws snapping around the grass, as the hippo chomped and chewed the grass, followed by lusty belches.  I think the hippo's digestion is not terribly efficient.  I gave up sleep for a few hours, not by choice, to listen to his foraging.

The next morning, the area of tall grass off our deck was mowed beautifully for about 15 feet out into the marshy grassland in front of us.  Our visitor returned the following night since there was still plenty of food left to assuage his hunger.  But, I napped in between game drives, so no problem having interrupted sleep!