The hippopotamus is one of Africa’s most iconic animals—equal parts adorable and terrifying. It may look like a slow-moving, chubby water cow, but don’t let the dad-bod fool you. Hippos are actually one of the most dangerous creatures on the continent, responsible for more human deaths annually than lions or crocodiles.

By night, they graze peacefully on land like oversized lawnmowers. But by day, they retreat to the water even though, fun fact, hippos can’t actually swim. Instead, they sort of bounce along the river bottom. They can also hold their breath for up to five minutes, which is impressive, especially when you realize they’re basically jogging underwater the whole time.

So naturally, on our last night in Kafue, we thought it was a brilliant idea to hop into a small motorboat and get up close and personal with these unpredictable, semi-submerged tanks.

No hippos—or humans—were harmed in the making of this video, but keep the volume up… they had a lot to say to us.

Hakuna matata!

Just Pete

#safari #africa #zimbabwe #kafuenationalpark #overseasadventuretravel #itsjustwalking