I heard from Anna and Steve at Chipembele-Zambia a few days ago. Chipembele is one of the projects we support in The Luangwa Valley in Zambia.
They had sundowners on the water in the company of an armful of primates and Douglas the Hippo.
Douglas did his best to knock the drinks from their hands and knock them into the water, but all was okay in the end.
Hi Dave
The Luangwa rose about 6 foot yesterday, making it the deepest it’s been
all year…there must have been a lot of rain somewhere upstream,
judging by the foam as well! In the morning, I was walking along the
beaches with the dogs. Within 2 hours, the beaches had gone.Doug went mad yesterday when Anna and I sat in the boat for sundowners.
He pushes the boat from all angles, then tries to bite it! If the boat
was any smaller, he would overturn it! He’s just playing really.
You can begin to understand why I was a bit shaken by my last canoe
trip, 600km, with several hundred incidents of annoyed hippos that
chased the canoe and tried to overturn me…plus the giant croc trying
to eat me!Doug was staying in the Chowo confluence a lot recently, but now the
water is high, a small pod of hippos have taken it over today!All the best, Steve
More Chipembele rescue updates:
Little Mykey has made lots of friends. Everyone loves him. He loves being mothered and there are plenty of willing volunteers.
Here are some pictures of him playing with his mates and loving a cuddle.
The 'Oke' On The Ground for the Olsen Animal Trust 