Some critter photos and a bit of animal info from our five-night canoe adventure down the Zambezi River between Zimbabwe and Zambia . . .

Hippos – These large mammals spend up to 16 hours a day in the water to stay cool and can hold their breath for up to 5 minutes. Hippos, considered one of the most dangerous animals in Africa, have an aggressive nature and can be extremely territorial, especially the males. They can run up to 30 kilometers per hour on land and can easily charge and trample a threatening animal or person. Most of the time, though, hippos will run into nearby water if they start to feel unsafe or uncomfortable. Their very strong jaws can open up to 190 degrees, which means they can easily bite into a fiberglass canoe! Fortunately we didn’t see any teeth marks on our canoes prior to or during our adventure. 

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Before we started paddling down the Zambezi River, our guide Norman taught us 5 important things about avoiding and encountering hippos. 1) Watch ahead for eyes and ears just above the surface of the water to know their location. 2) Give hippos lots of room. Stay in the middle of the river when they are on riverbanks. Paddle away from them when the river horses are in the water. 3) If Norman tells us to paddle hard in a certain direction, he means it! He probably won’t have to time to explain where the hippo is that we want to avoid. 4) Tapping the side of the canoe with our paddles causes underwater hippos to rise to the surface because they are curious about the noise and helps us know their location. 5) If a hippo is surprisingly close, one or more of the guides will slap the water with their paddles to scare away the animal. And for an extra measure of security, Norman carried a pistol.

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Yes, we saw many hippos during our journey down the river. Most of the ones in the water casually watched us float by as we purposefully kept our distance. And the ones sunning on the riverbanks usually splashed quickly and noisily into the shallow water to feel safer. 

Norman has over 20 years of guide experience on the Zambezi River, so he is quite familiar with the territories of two males he described as “ornery boys that liked to chase after canoes.” Fortunately we didn’t encounter those two large critters on our journey.

One hippo did give us quite a surprise. During the fifth morning of our adventure we thought we had passed an entire pod when suddenly one hippo surfaced just to the side of Susan and Norman’s canoe, which was the lead boat in our little fleet. Norman quickly slapped the water with his paddle, which sounded like gunfire and got everyone’s attention, including the hippo’s. The water was shallow and the hippo ran very quickly down the river channel, splashing lots of water as it got out of our way. Jerry was quick enough to get a couple of photos of the large, fleeing animal.

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Elephants – As we got closer and closer to Mana Pools, our final destination, we saw increasing numbers of elephants along the riverbanks of both countries, including many tiny ones and a few lone bulls.

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Lions & Vultures – Unfortunately a baby elephant did not survive its nighttime trek to the river for a drink. We didn’t notice the lions at first because they blended in so well with the terrain and were resting fairly motionlessly after their meal. There were probably other lions sleeping in the surrounding brush, but we did not see or hear them. More than ten hooded vultures waited nearby for any sign that the lions had finished with the carcass.

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Crocodiles – We noticed fewer than expected of these very large, toothy creatures. And none of them seemed excited about us passing by in canoes, probably because we heeded our guide’s advice to not dangle any tasty (or not-so-tasty) body parts over the edge of the boats.

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Three Other Varieties of Land Creatures

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African Fish Eagle – This majestic creature is the national bird of Zambia and one of our favorites.

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Ten More Birds – Photographing feathered creatures on this trip was a bit of a challenge. Most of the time we canoed in the middle of the river where it was deeper to avoid close and very undesirable encounters with hippos, but too far away to photograph or identify many of the birds with our camera and binoculars.

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