Hippos on the left, right, forward and aft. Oh and mind the crocs

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This was our rest day, so I got up early to wash nearly everything I bought. If I said I got it to a less dirty state that would be fair, clean and sparkly less so.

After breakfast we headed to go on a canoe trip down the lower Zambesi, we thought there wouldn’t be any wildlife due to the flooding but we were treated to many Hippo, massive crocodiles and even Elephant. Before we were allowed in the canoes the guide explained what to do if a hippo attacked which was simply explained as get as far as you can away. He also commented not to put hands or feet in the water as the Crocs do like to take a bite.

The canoeing was excellent and we paddled closely passed probably over 100 Hippos over the course of 3 hours, many of them enormous (their heads were about as big as our torso). Our guide helpfully pointed out a Hippo can bit a crocodile in half. The Hippos were mainly easy going and let us paddle by within about 10m but at one point one did emerge out of nowhere and express a desire for us to go away. The guides smacked their oars on the water and shouted and he did back off a bit, rather glad they were there. They were also rather good at spotting crocodiles but thankfully every time we tried to get close they slid away into the water.

For what it’s worth, we did ground the canoes on the Zimbabwe side and since Alain and Dan haven’t visited before they counted that as a visit!

After the canoe trip we got into a motor boat to take us back and they spotted a croc, a big one. It was hard to say how big but 3-4m would be reasonable. It was tucked away in the reeds and not the least bit bothered by our presence.

Once back at the campsite we had a very relaxed afternoon. We went for a swim (in their pool, not the river!), we played some pool on their rather tired table and we enjoyed the view over the Zmabesi where 5 elephants played in the water.

500km to Livingstone and 2 days to get there. We hope the roads are good!

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