The Hippo strikes again...

My email won't work today so let's just have some fun here...

The Hippo strikes again...
I don't know if I have mentioned this previously- but we have a resident hippo (kiboko in Kiswahili)- that lives in the river that cuts through our Masumbo campus. It has only been spotted about 3 times in the 12 years that this program has been running- these legends are the only traces that he has left in the more recent years- the phantom kiboko we say. But not this year- we heard a loud snort one night about 3 or 4 weeks ago, but since then we have only experienced silent peaceful kiboko-less nights.
Then... one serene evening in Tanzania several nights ago- my 3 tentmates and I were just settling in our sleeping bags and getting comfortable for the night when alas! a snort distinct to that plump river-dwelling mammal we call the kiboko echoed through our camp (mind you- if you haven't been doing your kiboko research lately- these "cute" "hungry-hungry hippos" view of hippos we have is in fact distorted. Hippos are responsible for more deaths in Africa than any of African animal...). Anyway upon hearing the grunt of the animal the 4 us ventured out into the dark night (no not the batman movie ha)- armed only with our wimpy flashlights. Straining to get a view of the river from the high bank covered in thick brush the lies between us and the river (called the Little Ruaha)- my friend jumped up onto a boulder to see more clearly. Within the next moment another - more viscious snort resounded, but this time it sounded much closer- which caused pandamonium as we all crazily scampered onto the safe haven of the rock. We made it up, but I scraped all the skin off of my right calf in the process. Once we had all climbed the rock we attemped to search the river below but with no avail. The phantom hippo had once again escaped into the thick darkness of the African night....

(Interesting note: the next morning we heard that our little hippo friend had attacked somebody down the road at the police check a couple kilometers away just days prior to this incident...glad we didn't know that at the time.)