SOUTH AFRICA:
Elephant Said, “Stay there, Man. Here Comes Baby”

After I left Pietermaritzburg, I went to St. Lucia – the hippo place of South Africa. There were signs everywhere saying that the hippos roam in the streets at night.

The day after I joined a Hippo & Croc Boat Cruise in iSimangaliso Wetland Park just outside St Lucia, and I was picked up at the hostel and got into an open minibus with some of the others and our guide Ndu.

It’s a 2-hour boat tour, where they make a promise:
“100 % Guaranteed Hippo Sightings or You’re Money Back”

And I guess it’s a promise that isn’t hard to keep as St Lucia is home to the largest free-roaming population of hippos in South Africa.

Not only is it home to 800 hippos but also approximately 1000 Nile crocodiles not to mention the abundance of birdlife here in the Wetland Park.

THE HIPPO IS A WEIRD ANIMAL

Here are some interesting facts about hippos that you might not know.

• The name Hippopotamus comes from the Ancient Greek and means ‘river horse’.
• Hippos bask on the shoreline and secrete an oily red substance, which gave rise to the myth that they sweat blood. The liquid is actually a skin moistener and sunblock that may also provide protection against germs.
• An adult Hippo needs to resurface every 3 – 5mins to breathe. The process of surfacing and breathing is automatic, and even a hippo is sleeping underwater will rise and breathe without waking.
• Both reproduction and birth occur in the water. Hippo calves weigh approximately 45kg at birth and can suckle on land or underwater by closing their ears and nostrils. Each female has only one calf every two years.
• Despite its stocky shape and short legs, it can easily outrun most humans. Hippos have been clocked at 30 km/h over short distances.
• Hippos will travel on land for up to 10km to feed and spend four to five hours grazing and can consume 68 kg of grass each night. That might sound like a bit but considering their enormous size, their food intake is relatively low.
• The hippo is one of the most aggressive creatures in the world – and is often regarded as one of the most – if not THE most dangerous animal in Africa. But if they threatened on land they will most often run for water.

We saw a lot of hippos and but no crocodiles… until the last few seconds of the trip. At the bank, we saw a huge Nile crocodile in the sun.  

I LOST RECORDINGS

As I was continuing the second half of my road trip, I was still recording a ton every day, but then when I came to Johannesburg 10 days later something awful happened.

As I travel around, I always carry a recorder and I record so much. Normally for one 30-minute episode, I might have 2 hours of recordings that I need to go through and decide what to put in each episode.

And even though I’m only on halfway through my road trip – and also the last leg of my African adventures, this episode is … the season finale. Because I lost all the recordings, I did in the second half. I deleted all my recordings by accident. Long story how that happened. You have to listen to the episode to hear what happened.

HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED ON THE LAST TEN DAYS IN AFRICA

Let me tell you what happened after St. Lucia.

First, I went to Swaziland – or ‘the Kingdom of eSwatini’ as it’s called now. The king renamed the country shortly after my visit. Here I stayed at Sondzela Backpackers in Malkerns In Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary.

It’s in the middle of a national park, and in the late afternoon, I went on a game drive into the wild. Here I saw a lot of animals and some stunning nature as the sun was setting.

LOREM