When we first arrived at Lago Niassa, we basked in its peace and beauty. Little could we imagine that a few days later we would be joining a hunt for hippo and crocodiles.
It just so happened that the government had approached Keith, and asked him to help rid the village (Meponda) of a hippo that was causing extensive damage to people’s crops. And this was the weekend that he and his neighbours (Warrick, an ex-hunting lodge manager, and his father, also Keith) had chosen to go on the hunt.
We joined in the Friday night festivities to get into the swing of things. We all jumped on the boat and motored along the lakeshore looking for crocodiles. We spotted one amongst the reeds. It was small (about 1m) and our hosts leapt fearlessly from the boat to apprehend the little guy barehanded. Somehow, the snorkelling we had enjoyed earlier that afternoon felt like much more of a dangerous adventure than what we had thought it to be.
Then on Saturday afternoon, men, women and children, all jumped on the boat again. This time we were going to drive down the river mouth and look for the hippo so that the men would know where to find him in the evening. It had rained over the past few weeks and the river was brown with mud. It was difficult to spot a hippo in those conditions, but the reeds and river banks showed evidence of the hippo’s presence. We travelled as far as we could up the river, asking local fishermen on their tiny dug-out canoes if they had seen the hippo.
Yes they had. Some said there were 5 hippos. Others said there were 30… Eventually one motioned for us to go back towards the river mouth. He had just seen a hippo in the river!
We started carefully back down the river, looking for eyes or bubbles in the water, when suddenly the boat hit something big! The jerk shook the boat quite strongly and Steve fell over board in the muddy water. We all held our breath as he re-emerged. We were expecting the hippo’s charge. Steve couldn’t decide whether to swim or run back to the boat, but somehow made it back on board. Then we realised that we had just hit a big log.
It lasted for just a few seconds but we all got a serious fright. One of the girls soon started singing and the mood lifted. They sang the song again for us as we parted, and we recorded it:
VIDEO of the song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frtu11EIozY
The “smoke” in the background is actually swarms of lake flies which hatch periodically from the lake. The locals catch them in nets and eat them.
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Pero Carooo! pero qué susto!! Oh my god, be careful, I look like a grandma... :) but my eyes were stuck at the compumter reading your stories when I could not believe my eyes what I was reading about the hippo...! And now in Moshi... I has having several interviews there...imagine! There´s a nice orphanage (se dice asi? :S Amani Kids, not far from the city. It´s an american girl - around our age - and nowadays more local people helping to take care of street childs. The place is super and the kids are adorable. Maybe you will be able to read this before you leave the city... Thanks for keeping us posted! And a special big hug to our brave Steve ;) Un beso gigante, guapa, te mando un mail... Theo is already standing on his feet...! no teeth yet, though...
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