Image: Getty
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An encounter with a hippo and a boat that would not move left Megan Paulse thankful for the heroes that don’t wear capes but safari pakkies.
‘Returning to northern KwaZulu-Natal for the first time in forever, we foolishly filled our itinerary to the brim. Though we created lasting memories, we resisted the temptation more than once to hit the snooze button when we received a call from the hotel receptionists.
But exploration was hard to resist – on our first day, balmy and autumnal, a cruise on Lake Jozini. All we’d need to do was relax and enjoy nature’s beauty. That was what we did in theory: watch adult hippos enter the water from the shore while their curious calves played hide-and-seek with us, emerging from the water, then disappearing before we could photograph them. ‘No paparazzi, please,’ they seemed to say.
The boat was still as our tour guide told us about the area before a hippo got too close, so we had to move. But as the motor roared to life, we stayed exactly where we were. A second and third attempt to start the boat bore the same results. ‘What’s happening?’ a passenger asked nervously. ‘Oh, just some plants or something stuck in the motor,’ said our guide, a little too nonchalantly for my liking because an adult hippo was heading toward us. ‘We will be moving again in a jiffy, he reassured.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed one of the other guides, who’d enthusiastically listed facts about the wildlife, run from the top deck to the front of the boat, his chest puffed out, ready to save the day. I couldn’t help but wonder if that would involve ripping open his clothing to reveal a superhero costume. But instead of a hidden identity, superhuman strength or the ability to fly, he revealed… a bog-standard garden rake.
With careful but deliberate movements, he began freeing our boat from the murky water’s capture – which, mind you, was a lot of plant life.’Try it now,’ he seemed to yell at the guide manning the helm. ‘Still nothing,’ came his frustrated reply amidst our oohs and ahs as the humungous hippo drew dangerously close.
How close is too close? I tried to push this thought from my head and focus on taking a decent photograph. There were more sloshing sounds from our superhero with a garden rake, and he called, ‘Try again.’ We moved, but not enough to go anywhere.
As the saying goes, third time’s a charm. Thankfully, we started moving just as one of the hippos got close enough that it seemed we could touch it if we tried. And what an epic close-up photograph I got! ‘That’s more than close enough for me, I said, breathing a sigh of relief as I saw our superhero triumphantly return, failing to hide his broad smile – as you would if you knew you’d saved the day with nothing more than a garden rake.’
Published in the March 2025 issue of Getaway Magazine. Find us on shelves for more!
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