second night

(second night on the Zambezi River)

I'm writing thisby the light of the moon, somewhere on the middle of the Zambezi, on a little sandy island surrounded by hippos calling to each other in the night. From across the water, a hyena is screaming and Jupiter is rising over our tents while Mars sets over the river.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I signed up for all this. I certainly didn't expect to be camping on a tiny island along with a school of hippos who splash into the water unexpectedly about a hundred yards from where I sit at the fire.

I just don't know how to describe all this. We went from seeing animals from far away while we sat in a motorboat to tracking them through a park in an open safari car. And now we're sitting at water level, paddling up to them (and, more often than not, away from them), with nothing to protect us but our guide, Causemore.

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Favourite Parts of Today

Elliot: sneaking up to hippos having a fight
Phil: using an elephant print for a toilet; saved digging a hole!
Julle: seeing a baby hippo that was only three weeks old
Ali: seeing colours by moonlight - even red!

Least Favourite Parts of Today

Ali: burning the backs of my hands
Julle: arguing about where to go while creeping around an island to avoid hippos
Phil: being confused about instructions while paddling through Hippo City
Elliot: the fact that today has to end