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As a matter of fact I was charged twice by hippo. All I can tell you was that the story "never get in between a hippo and water" is true. We drove on the "highway" in May 2003 about 20km north of Lower Sabie. It was about 9:00 in the morning. We were heading to Lower Sabie.

We stopped to look at a hippo in the road about 100m infront of us. All of a sudden another hippo came bursting out of the thickets on the right hand side of the road. It bulldozed it's way past us towards the Sabie river with such a speed that I only realized after what felt like 10mins later that it was a hippo. It passed by us a mere 10m.

All I can tell you is that it moves so quickly with that bulk that it seems impossible. It took some bushes with it which was lying all over the road infront of us. We were just fortunate that we were not 10m onwards as I would not know what the impact might have done to us. I once read that people on their way from Nelspruit hit a hippo on the N4 highway with a 4x4. The impact was so great that it burst coke can in the cooler box.

That particular road should be carefully travelled in winter months when it is not to hot for hippo to take back to the water after their evening feeding frenzy which could take them several km's away from water.

The other story will remain silent for now.

I was eargerly looking around for a weeping wattle bush nearby on both occasions.

LOL!!! Poor weeping wattle....

I agree with what you say. Once (in the Pilansberg though) we were driving along innocently in the early morning. A hippo returning from the night's grazing to his dam suddenly charged across the road (sand) and kept going. I'm not joking when I say that my Dad tried to get to the dam in time for us to see him enter the water, and was going at least 40Km/h. We didn't have a chance, he beat us by far, despite us not having to take a far more roundabout route than he did.

Incredible the power of that bulk with a little speed

BTW, if that's true about the cooler box, and that was the worst that happened, they were very lucky. I remember when I was working in Hoedspruit a family came across a hippo on the Jonkmanspruit/Swadini road at night. They hit it and the impact killed the family. The hippo also had to be tracked and put out of his misery . Those hippo warning signs on the side of the road should never be ignored.

WTM. You'll tell the second story some other time I hope. Nice to read yours too, Meg.
Any one else have any close encounters of the hippo kind?

I had one (1995) from water though- was canoeing Fish river (Double Drift GR, E Cape,recent reintroduction), and was sidling along reeded fringe to birdwatch a bit & reeds suddenly parted and hippo stormed at us & lucky for us it dipped beneth the front end of canoe and arose in middle of waters- the canoe merely tipped abit, though our hearts and bowels were more turbulent...

Yes, I needed weeping wattle leaves too.

wj

Well, I'm so fortune not to have met a hippo that way.
I can tell you about those guys in Zambia:
Last june I was with some friends in Zambia at Kabula Lodge.
We had a rubberduck (thats the way you pronaunce it!) and went of fishing in the Zambezi every day. Some SA-tourist were not so lucky to have their one boat so they hired a boat and guide form the lodge.
At one point they were trolling close to the riverbank and the guide was watching the fishinglines very carfully. At that moment something hit their (polyester) boat. The guide thought that he run over a logg. At the time he realised what was going on the hippo get hold of the side of the boat and startet pulling the boat down.
The hippo was trying to tip over the boat, and if that happens you know how the story will end. Not nice
They were lucky that the guide hit the petrol and just before tipping over they could propell themselfs out of "the jaws of dead".
When they came back they were looking like gohsts even the Zambian guide!!!!!
Unfortunately there were no weeping wattles around. They could have used a whole forest of tham.

From that time we even had eyes on our backs.

grtz jaapvd.

I watched a really interesting program on Hippo's today. It showed the hippo's eating a Zebra which was taken from a crocodile. The hippo bite the crocodile twice to convince him to move off. Really very interesting stuff. Has anyone seem this behaviour?

I thought hippos were grazers !

I thought so too, but it would appear that is not the truth. The program claimed they did not do it often, but the hippo certainly looked like he was enjoying it.

Hi,
Found a interesting story on the first Hippos in a Dutch Zoo
First Hippo in a European zoo was in Londen in 1850
Third was Amsterdam in 1860
Had to make a special railway into the zoo
Price Then: roughly 43.000,00 Rand
U could have built at least 10 average houses for that kind of
money in those days
They did well
Hermann lived to be 24 and
Marguetta 36

I'm not opening a recent sightings thread ... for certain reasons, but I just wanted to share this with some of you.

Grazing Hippo ... in broad daylight ... with a calf ....

I saw a hippo doc (Hippo Beach) last night that showed similar behaviour, only what they nicked from the crocs was a buffalo. It was new behavious to me, and apparently uncommon but not unknown. Also interesting how much time hippo actually spend out of water.

@W@H: great pix, but perhaps not so unusual as we think.

Not very clear, but we saw these in June/July 2004 just outside Skukuza on the H12.
It is unusual, but they do it regularly. I saw them doing it again by Nyamundwa near Phabeni Gate (My favourite dam in the park)

During my trip in June we saw hippos out of the water at almost every dam or river during our drives. From Punda all the way down south to Croc Bridge.
Found it strange at the time, can't remember ever seeing so many hippos out of the water. But, then again, can't remember going to the Park that often in winter. Maybe that has got something to do with it. Air temperature maybe not so high that they need to cool in the water all the time

I visited the Park mostly in winter times and for me it is no surprise. So I agree with you Johann.

It is not unusual at all for hippo to come out of the water during the day as our chalet at Ngwenya is close to the hippo pool in the Crocodile River and there were upwards of 15 resident hippo living there who would all get out of the water at about midday (this being June, not sure if they do this all year) and lie sunbathing in a huge mass for a good few hours before returning to the pool. They would do this every day.